Eat a grasshopper for a change
The TV program was very interesting. Various speakers and guests discussed a variety of topics. One of them caught my attention: eating grasshoppers!
A long time ago, Safari Park De Beekse Bergen set up several stalls where you could try out alternative foods. I’m not sure if it was a success. When I was there, not many people went to try it out. And certainly not me! But in later years I learned more about it.
You may recognize it when you come home after a long day of work or school. For dinner something is served that you don't like very much. Sometimes the taste is not good, sometimes it is too healthy or not healthy enough and so on. But do we, in the Netherlands, have the right to complain so much about food? I don't think so personally. Abroad, especially in Asia, very remarkable dishes are served, from insects to rats. In the Netherlands we would rather not think about this, but abroad it is a habit and sometimes even a delicacy.
Eating insects could be the future. Producing a kilo of beef costs 80% more energy than producing a kilo of locust meat. Insects are said to be quite tasty. They are on the menu in about 100 countries. For some Chinese, the cockroach is a delicacy. The recipe? Wok, peel off armor and eat. Outside China, eating insects is also the most normal thing in the world. For example, Colombian cinemagoers eat roasted parasol ants and Japanese eat rice with wasps. Also on the menu in many countries: caterpillars, mosquitoes, termites, bugs, grasshoppers, and beetles. But not in Europe and North America.
The stock of insects is large enough because they are the most fertile animals. There are approximately 1400 edible species. Of these, 24% live on the American continent, 24% in Asia, 38% in Africa and only 2% in Europe. Edible insects with a content of 40 to 70 percent of proteins compare very favorably with, for example, maize, which has a protein content of only 10%.
The average Dutchman is horrified by the idea of eating an insect. Therefore, the Association of Dutch Insect Breeders (Venik) is active. Their goal is to market insects for human consumption. In other words: more people must start mouthwatering when watching locusts, crickets and mealworms.
Bon appetit!
