CRUNCHTIME BREAK
Creepy-crawlies are unlikely to replace beef patties in between hamburger buns any time soon, but their popularity as a food option is on the rise. Charlotte Payne reports
Edible insects come in all shapes and sizes. Ants that burst with honey as you bite into them. Giant hornet pupae that melt like cream on your tongue. Beetle larvae that leave a smoky taste in your mouth. And those are just the ones that can be eaten raw.
Humans have relied on a partially insectivorous diet for millennia. We evolved as insect-eaters. In many food cultures worldwide, insects are a prized delicacy, and reach higher prices than meat. They are eaten in tacos, in bowls of rice and sandwiches. They fit well with many common dishes.
Yet today’s dominant global food culture does not embrace insects. Disgust, apprehension and charged curiosity are all common reactions. Media coverage tends to reflect this, with echoes of the excitement of taboo: never quite certain how to tread the line between eagerly urging us to try insect cuisine and
squirming at the prospect of a mouthful of bugs.
Could it be that underneath the hype, edible insects are just another version of meat, mellowed and rebranded for the credulous consumer?
So why is it that right now, edible insects are seeing a surge in interest?
As dinner party treats go, they’re quite the talking point. Serve delicately simmered wasp larvae to your guests and they’ll be buzzing about it for months. Or follow Angelina Jolie’s advice. She told us last year that “you start with crickets and a beer”, a tempting invitation that did a great deal for the public image of edible insects. Justin Timberlake has also hopped on board. He served “ants coated in black garlic and rose oil and grasshoppers” at his latest album launch.
But there’s more to this than celebrity endorsement: we are told edible insects might save us from ourselves. We’re living in a world that we’ve destabilised: sea levels are rising, global temperatures are soaring, biodiversity is declining, and inequality is deepening.
Edible insects are hoped to be a turning point in this sombre storyline, because of their role in challenging the meat industry. The farming and processing of animal livestock is destroying wild nature and releasing thousands of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. It’s expanding daily, all to feed a population that is growing in number, in size, and in desire for meat.
The edible insect industry might provide an environmentally sound alternative. Insect farmers aren’t quite big enough to compete with the meaty conglomerates just yet but they’re trying. Businesses that have started to farm and sell insects as food claim their environmental footprint is relatively negligible, and that lean insect protein is a healthier choice for the consumer.
It’s not entirely clear how reliable these claims are. Crickets, the most commonly farmed insects, have a smaller environmental footprint than beef. But when fed with poultry feed and kept alive with the help of an energy-intensive heating system, their environmental footprint may be on a par with chicken. Insects certainly need less feed to grow compared to hot-blooded livestock, so they do take up less space on the planet. This is imperative right now: agricultural expansion is causing staggering losses of biodiversity, and experts believe we need to preserve half of the world’s ecosystems for a sustainable future.
Dennis Oonincx is an entomologist based at the University of Wageningen in Holland – an expert in edible insects and sustainability.
He argues all animal production systems “add inefficiency” because they are converting plant matter into animal matter – the answer is to take out the middle man (or cow). From an environmental perspective, Oonincx concedes, plant-based food might be the best option. This is because “plants that can be consumed directly are best used as food instead of feed for insects”.
Plants! Plants are notoriously healthy. Could it be that underneath the hype, edible insects are just another version of meat, mellowed and rebranded for the credulous consumer? If so, perhaps we should forget the critters and just eat more plants.
But there’s another angle to the insects-as-food movement, which may be even more important in today’s climate. Insects have traditionally been collected, prepared and sold by people who hold little economic or political power. Commoditising insects as food may contribute significantly to the livelihoods of some of the world’s most marginalised communities. Can we – as literate and relatively wealthy consumers – contribute to a fairer world by promoting and purchasing edible insects?
As with anything we buy: know where your money will end up. Not all edible insect businesses are equal. Darren Goldin, co-founder of the largest edible cricket breeding facility in the Americas, advocates “buying from a supplier that offers transparency in their supply chain... know the source.”
I’d add: know that the source is something worth supporting. Several edible insect businesses actively put their profits towards challenging inequality. Darren’s business, Entomo Farms, work closely with social initiatives that aim to empower grassroots insect farmers in two of the world’s least wealthy countries, Farms for Orphans in the Democratic Republic of Congo and IPSIO in Madagascar. Aspire Food Group sells edible crickets and work with rural farmers in Ghana. Buying their insects means part-supporting these laudable initiatives – is this the answer we’ve been looking for?
Unfortunately, it’s likely to be more complex than that. There is a very real danger that raising the price of insects may mean that people who have enjoyed them for centuries choose to sell them instead of consuming them. In the absence of a comparable source of immediate income, this is the logical choice for people who are living hand-to-mouth. Yet this can contribute to protein and iron deficiencies, and does nothing to combat inequality. It’s crucial that insect distributors pay a price – financial and beyond – that supports collectors’ and farmers’ livelihoods. As a consumer purchasing imported bugs this is hard to judge. There’s no Fairtrade certification for edible insects just yet.
Maybe we should all just stick to plants.
Yet there is another political element to insect-eating, beyond finance. Josh Evans spent three years travelling the world eating insects as lead researcher for the Nordic Food Lab, a non-profit established by chef Rene Redzepi from the Michelin-starred restaurant Noma in Copenhagen. He believes that for those of us who have not grown up eating insects their greatest value is “as a provocation to mindful eating – they force us to consider what we do eat, what we don't, and why.”