Bugging out: Warming up to worms

by Ari LeVaux

Moth mousse. Cricket broth with grasshopper sauce. Liquorice-glazed ant stick. Bee bread. These dishes are part of a menu put together by the Nordic Food Lab, a kitchen/laboratory/think tank in Copenhagen. The idea is to “explore the 1,400 wholesome crawling creatures that are edible to man.”
That goal is in line with a recommendation in a recent UN report, to wit: the food industry should help “raise the status of insects” by including them in new recipes and adding them to restaurant menus.

Pound-for-pound, insects have as much as 10 times the protein of beef. Insects also not only offer more protein than mammals, fish or fowl, but in many cases provide higher levels of unsaturated fat, minerals and other nutrients.

Such comparisons, coupled with more hungry and malnourished people, have led to increasing calls for more entomophagy, aka bug eating. The UN argues that increasing our insect intake is good for both humans and the environment.

The biggest obstacle to widespread entomophagy, of course, is the “disgust factor.” But before you get too bugged out, consider this: you probably already consume a lot of bugs. It’s nearly impossible to avoid the stray bits of insect that are commonly found in salad, or to spit out every mosquito that flies in your mouth as you ride your bike. FDA regulations allow 60 insect fragments per hundred grams of chocolate – and even more for peanut butter.
But given the sugar, preservatives and other unsavory elements of the average peanut butter cup, bug parts might be the healthiest part. In addition to the nourishing aspects, according to the report, raising and gathering insects can provide opportunities for economic improvement. “Insect harvesting/rearing is a low-tech, low-capital investment option that offers entry even to the poorest sections of society, such as women and the landless.”

Beyond human well-being, there are environmental advantages to entomophagy. Insects emit almost no methane, a potent greenhouse gas that’s produced excessively by cattle. Insect ranching does not require clearing land, as is necessary to raise livestock and feed. Insects are incredibly efficient at converting feed into protein – crickets need 12 times less feed than cattle, four times less than sheep, and half as much as pigs and chickens to produce the same amount of protein, according to the report. And insects can be fed things that would otherwise be waste.

While convincing the average soccer mom to sprinkle a handful of flies into the soup might seem like a lot to ask, the report suggests a hybrid tactic: using insects as animal feed, primarily for chicken and fish. This seems like a more palatable way to put insects on the menu than trying to get people to eat insects directly, and would free up land and fertilizer to feed people, not animals.

Dutch scientists, meanwhile, are exploring how to culture high-protein ovary cells from worms that they hope to slip into burgers, breads and other processed foods. After all, if modern consumers have demonstrated anything, it’s their willingness to eat foods that are processed into oblivion and sold in pretty packages. Mystery meat like hot dogs are infamous for their inclusion of unmentionables, so what’s a little bug powder among the snouts, feet and rectums? Nobody seems bothered by pink slime in burger meat, so worm ovary powder could probably fly under the radar as well.
But is it really necessary? Diners eagerly eat bug-like animals every day. Shrimp and lobsters share the arthropod phylum with insects. And while shrimp and lobsters are scum-sucking bottom feeders, most edible insects are clean-living, vegans.

In some countries, insects are already featured on menus, such as maguey worms in Mexico and the aquatic larvae “zazamushi” in Japan, which are sautéed with soy sauce and sugar. But these are exceptions, not the rule, and it’s hard to imagine the UN’s recommendation gaining traction among bug-averse Americans. But one night in Bangkok a few years back, I became acquainted with a time-honored strategy that might help: a vendor’s cart of deep-fried insects. It would run contrary to the laws of physics for these bugs not to be good. And indeed they were, tasting like potato chips or crispy chicken skin. And as with most crispy, salty things, they were good with beer.

Perhaps the UN should focus its efforts in bars. It may not hold a candle to moth mousse, but it’s a lot simpler to prepare, and an easier sell than hiding powdered worm ovaries in a hot dog.