Would you eat cricket protein?

NorthCascades

This week's "Hidden Brain" was about how people decide what we consider food and what we don't. I caught part of the show on my way to a hiking trail, people were commenting that you can't even tell the protein bar was made with ground up crickets.

So ... would you?

Here's the podcast version of anyone wants to listen: https://www.npr.org/2018/12/13/676467019/yum-and-yuck-the-psychology-of-what-we-eat-and-what-we-spit-out

estherdragonbat

I'm a kosher vegetarian, so that would be a "no". Unless it was a matter of life and death, of course.

TheBigYin1984

I’ve eaten insects when they were on the menu a few times. So not a problem for me.

kami3006

Yes, I would.

Safari_Gal

I would try it. I had molpani worms in Zimbabwe- they were actually pretty good.

middlehaitch

Crickets- yes. Cricketers-no.

Mosquitoes- definitely, because they keep trying to eat me.

Got a tin of chocolate covered ants for Christmas once. Yes I ate them.

Cheers, h.

L1zardQueen

Yep! If it’s ground up into itty bitty pieces, I would eat it. I’m of the mindset, if you can’t see it, it won’t hurt you.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

@cricketpower Thoughts?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

aokoye

estherdragonbat wrote: »

I'm a kosher vegetarian, so that would be a "no". Unless it was a matter of life and death, of course.

If we take out the vegetarian part then your answer is very similar answer to mine.

Running2Fit

Yup, I’d eat it. I have zero problems with the idea of eating insects.

laurenq1991

I was vegetarian for three years and I'm still mostly vegetarian (I eat fish/shellfish occasionally and I haven't ruled out the possibility of eating poultry on occasion), and I would eat it no question, as long as it was affordable. Crickets are extremely high in vitamin B12 and can be raised to be high in vitamin D. They also contain a lot of protein. They actually are more nutritious than a lot of other animal foods like chicken. They are an easily renewable resource and farming them does not produce a lot of emissions. I think insects will be a mainstream food in the next few decades due to the need to reduce carbon emissions.

lynn_glenmont

TheBigYin1984 wrote: »

I’ve eaten insects when they were on the menu a few times. So not a problem for me.

Ditto.

AlabasterVerve

No, beef is my preferred protein.

777Gemma888

The ones made from Cricket flour? I would eat it, if all other options were eliminated. I would rather eat ossobuco, steak or lamb though. For the protein hit, gimme 2 eggs thanks and I will roll over the surplus negligible calories . 😉

mmapags

Absolutely I would. In fact I do. I live in Oaxaca, Mexico and Chapulines (Crickets or Grasshoppers) are a staple of the cuisine. In June the Chicatana (large ants) are around for a couple of weeks and are considered a delicacy. Chapuline Tacos are quite delicious!

orangegato

In terms of protein powders, I don’t see any advantage to it over my plant based powder so I prefer to not eat them. Perhaps I would try a chapuline taco if I visit Mexico.

L1zardQueen

I tried growing/breeding crickets to feed my lizards, what a stinky hobby. Not good a good idea.

Lounmoun

Not unless I had to.
I have vomitted in the past after watching someone eat insects. I have a particular phobia of crickets so thinking about eating them even ground up would have a strong reaction. There would be a large mental hurdle to get over for me.

sardelsa

Yup I would try it. I'm not a fan of eating the insect itself due to the texture (feeling of the crunch and legs) but all ground up, ya why not.

sardelsa

L1zardQueen wrote: »

I tried growing/breeding crickets to feed my lizards, what a stinky hobby. Not good a good idea.

It really is so stinky. My brother had a pet lizard and the crickets would die and rot... Yickkk that smell

lemurcat2

Sure. I've generally tried similar things when offered, and I have considered buying the cricket powder/flour to try it.

k8eekins

ONLY If it was the only option for calories, I would eat it, preferably as a trail mix, but I'll need water accessible to wash it down, for I won't be able to get over "I'm eating insects."

lemurcat2

I researched the grasshopper plague once upon a time, and I remember whether people tried eating the grasshoppers was one of my questions. Here's something on that:

http://www.historynet.com/1874-the-year-of-the-locust.htm

Background--

The hot and dry conditions of the spring and summer of 1874 had provided ideal breeding conditions for the Rocky Mountain locusts. “The grasses seemed to wither, and the cattle bunched up near the creek and the well, and no air seemed to stir the leaves on the trees,” Kansas pioneer Susan Proffitt wrote. “All nature seemed still.” And then they came.

“They looked like a great, white glistening cloud, for their wings caught the sunshine on them and made them look like a cloud of white vapor,” one unsettled pioneer wrote. “It seemed as if we were in a big snowstorm,” recalled another, “where the air was filled with enormous-size flakes.”

In places the mass of insects blocked out the sun for as long as six hours. When the locusts did descend, they covered every shrub, plant and tree, sometimes breaking limbs with their combined weight. They flattened and devoured corn stalks and reaped fields of grain. They consumed only the most succulent bits of the wheat crop, letting the rest rot on the ground. “Wheat and grasshoppers could not grow on the same land,” one forlorn homesteader put it, “and the grasshoppers already had the first claim.” The locusts picked clean whole watermelon patches and stripped fruit trees, leaving peach pits dangling from empty branches.

Having ravaged the fields and trees, the locusts then invaded the farmers’ houses, clearing out barrels and cupboards and devouring anything not secreted away in wood or metal containers. They even shredded curtains and clothing. At night farm families had to shake bedding to dislodge grasshoppers before retiring and considered themselves lucky if another shaking was not needed before morning. “The air is literally alive with them,” a New York Times correspondent wrote from Kansas. “They beat against the houses, swarm in at the windows, cover the passing trains. They work as if sent to destroy.”

As a result, many were starving, so:

Enter Charles Valentine Riley. The Missouri state entomologist noted that livestock and wild animals happily ate the locusts and that man had used the insect as food since ancient times. Riley thus proposed “entomophagy”—simply put, eating the bugs—as a way to reduce their numbers while nourishing hungry settlers. The insects, he insisted, yielded an agreeable nutty flavor when one removed their legs and wings and fried their bodies in butter. He added that the rendered locusts also made a palatable soup. To prove his point, Riley sent a bushel of scalded locusts to one St. Louisan caterer, who insisted he would have them on his menu every day if he could get them.

Hard-pressed pioneers gave Riley’s recipes a try. Gourmands claimed that locust coated in butter, fried and seasoned with salt and pepper tasted just like crawfish. Others elected to add their crispy locusts to broths and stews. But a number of settlers who had watched the locusts destroy their farms said they would just as soon starve as eat those horrible creatures....

estherdragonbat wrote: »

I'm a kosher vegetarian, so that would be a "no". Unless it was a matter of life and death, of course.

For similar but possibly kosher insects (doesn't help with the vegetarian bit and the article notes there is disagreement on whether they can be considered kosher), when I was trying to find again a piece on eating grasshoppers during the 19th century Great Plains crisis, I found this, which is interesting:

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21847517 -- Eating locusts: The crunchy, kosher snack taking Israel by swarm

It's from 2013, but there are a few parallels: "Israel is in the grip of a locust invasion. Farmers are seeing their crops gobbled up in minutes - and some people are taking a novel approach to pest control. Eating them."

amusedmonkey

I would. I considered it, in fact, when I saw one on Amazon. Then rationality won over curiosity...

If crickets are a cheap source of protein, then why is that protein bar so expensive per gram of protein? I'll wait until (if ever) the process is streamlined enough to have a reasonable cost. As long as cheese is produced commercially, I see no real reason to switch to crickets unless crickets get exceptionally cheap. Whey is a waste product, after all, and that waste needs to go somewhere.

Hamsibian

sardelsa wrote: »

Yup I would try it. I'm not a fan of eating the insect itself due to the texture (feeling of the crunch and legs) but all ground up, ya why not.

Same.

Lolinloggen

my forst thought is "of course" But then again I am always interested in new (or in this case very old) types of foods. IMO in western diet we have moved away from a lot of good foods and habits due to 'civilisation' and wanting to attain to when 'higher' classes eat and live like.
Never mind that those 'higher' classes not higher just richer in money and often poorer in empathy and taste

GottaBurnEmAll

I'm a vegetarian. That would be a nope from me.

slimgirljo15

:noway:

Noreenmarie1234

I have seen so many bars made with cricket protein and it sounds disgusting. I just can't stop picturing the bugs and it would turn me off even if it tasted good. I've heard a few people who have tried the bars say they are terrible, but I am sure there will be others who love the taste, haha.

Sunrain2018

I would try it.