When faced with food shortages, as could well happen in the not too distant future, some of us may have to adjust our food preferences. Many ethnic cultures around the world include insects in their diets. Entomophagy is the term applied to insect eaters. They can be found in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas. Insects provide roughly 80% protein and they contain more iron than beef. They are also rich in minerals, micronutrients, and fats. Some of the more common insects, of which some are considered delicacies, are crickets, cicadas, grasshoppers, ants, beetle grubs (mealworms) and some caterpillar species. Pill bugs (also known as roly-poly bugs or woodlice) are a type of terrestrial crustacean that tastes like shrimp or crab. Some people are known to eat dragon flies and wasps, as well. In fact, Americans and Europeans are the only people on the planet who do not eat insects.
A good reason for eating insects is simply that there are so many more of them than there are mammals and birds and fish. Those that are eaten are not on endangered species lists so they are not threatened with extinction. They could easily supply much of our human protein needs and therefore, provide a valuable food source in our uncertain food future. Since the inhumane treatment of animals and chickens, coupled with unsustainable farming practices, has been revealed to the public, many people have shifted the way they eat. More people are becoming vegetarian and vegan. We have infinitely more options available at the grocery store with plant based “milk” and “meat” substitutes. Global warming is ramping up its droughts and sparking wildfires in the west. Increased rain and flooding, in the east and hurricanes in the south, have us on edge. There is also an increase in the number and strength of tornadoes in the midwest. Due to COVID, food supply chains have slowed down and they have been further disrupted by the war in Ukraine.
Gardening is certainly important in our uncertain future; but we also need protein, which often requires particular combinations of plants in order to be complete. Insects may not sound very appetizing to most of us, but they could make the difference between our survival, or death by starvation. With so many edible plants and edible insects available to us, the belief that we have a food shortage is just not true.
