Would you eat insects?

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Replies

  • Mini_horse_lover
    Mini_horse_lover Posts: 178 Member
    have eaten live and dried meal worm, freeze dried crickets, ants, earthworms, bees. not bad. Earthworms dried are bacon-ish. None were bad, just prefer to not recognize what they are.

    Earthworms aren't insects, but close enough! I've never thought of eating them dried.... I still instinctively save worms after a rainstorm by picking them up and bringing them to grass so that they don't get caught on the sidewalk and dry up. I'm probably responsible for many baby birds starving to death :(

    Also not insects: scorpions. But closely related, so we'll count them as well.

    Hate to tell you this, but once you touch an earthworm with your fingers they die... Something in our skin kills them:/

    You're kidding me? Whoops haha
  • VioletNightshade
    VioletNightshade Posts: 197
    I ate an ant out of curiosity when I was seven, but I don't think that counts.

    Other than that, no, I would not. Even before having given up all meat in its entirety, I would not have tried insects. I've squished so many, the idea of putting one in my mouth thoroughly grosses me out.

    And, no, I wouldn't recommend ants...
  • rgugs13
    rgugs13 Posts: 197 Member
    I've actually eaten a lot of fried meal worms. I used to do a bat program working as a naturalist, and part of the presentation was eating a fried meal worm and passing them out to students who wanted to try one too. I liked the spicy ones better than the bbq ones. We had those and some fried crickets available in our gift shop. The problem with the crickets is when the legs get stuck to your tongue!
  • SrJoben
    SrJoben Posts: 484 Member
    have eaten live and dried meal worm, freeze dried crickets, ants, earthworms, bees. not bad. Earthworms dried are bacon-ish. None were bad, just prefer to not recognize what they are.

    Earthworms aren't insects, but close enough! I've never thought of eating them dried.... I still instinctively save worms after a rainstorm by picking them up and bringing them to grass so that they don't get caught on the sidewalk and dry up. I'm probably responsible for many baby birds starving to death :(

    Also not insects: scorpions. But closely related, so we'll count them as well.

    Hate to tell you this, but once you touch an earthworm with your fingers they die... Something in our skin kills them:/

    Source please. I've never heard this before in my life, and I can't find even a reference to the idea on Google.
  • vienna_h
    vienna_h Posts: 428 Member
    have eaten live and dried meal worm, freeze dried crickets, ants, earthworms, bees. not bad. Earthworms dried are bacon-ish. None were bad, just prefer to not recognize what they are.

    Earthworms aren't insects, but close enough! I've never thought of eating them dried.... I still instinctively save worms after a rainstorm by picking them up and bringing them to grass so that they don't get caught on the sidewalk and dry up. I'm probably responsible for many baby birds starving to death :(

    Also not insects: scorpions. But closely related, so we'll count them as well.

    Hate to tell you this, but once you touch an earthworm with your fingers they die... Something in our skin kills them:/

    I think you're thinking of salamanders. Salamanders can die if you touch them with your bare hands. But not earthworms, you can touch worms. Ask anyone who gardens or goes fishing! I use to play with worms a lot when i was a kid, they never died.
  • rgugs13
    rgugs13 Posts: 197 Member
    have eaten live and dried meal worm, freeze dried crickets, ants, earthworms, bees. not bad. Earthworms dried are bacon-ish. None were bad, just prefer to not recognize what they are.

    Earthworms aren't insects, but close enough! I've never thought of eating them dried.... I still instinctively save worms after a rainstorm by picking them up and bringing them to grass so that they don't get caught on the sidewalk and dry up. I'm probably responsible for many baby birds starving to death :(

    Also not insects: scorpions. But closely related, so we'll count them as well.

    Hate to tell you this, but once you touch an earthworm with your fingers they die... Something in our skin kills them:/

    I'd like to see your source for that. I've never heard of that, and haven't found any reliable sources about the issue either. They are vulnerable to any products you might have on your hands, but so are all amphibians, fish, and anything else that requires highly moist skin. If you hold it out long enough to dry out, it will die, but moving it off a sidewalk certainly won't do it much harm.
  • smartseagull
    smartseagull Posts: 27
    Haven't tried insects, but I have eaten snails and cow's brain
  • MercuryBlue
    MercuryBlue Posts: 886 Member
    Why not? I can think of way grosser things to eat, most of which I've seen on Fear Factor. ;)
  • JonEdwards1975
    JonEdwards1975 Posts: 6
    Living in China for more than 10 years, i've eaten most things.

    Honestly I can't say I enjoy eating insects, but the only variety I really thought tasted bad was fried cockroach because it was very very bitter. Mostly they are quite crunchy and taste like whatever sauce they have been cooked in.

    Some animals we might consider disgusting in the west like snake, bull frog (really really tasty), turtle were actually very good.
  • Imara6mara
    Imara6mara Posts: 18 Member
    I do not eat bugs because I'm a vegetarian, but they're very popular here in Thailand. Cheap protein. There are even little carts that people push around town to sell them, like this:

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTrHAkSbuucFsaqi6FKi53wDY58eFAtA-HGfV4__s_3_071kdn-xQ

    To see more, you can Google: Thailand fried bugs :laugh: Enjoy!
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    NO. Not just no, but H3LL NO.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    I would! Just because, well, a sucka's gotta know.
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
    I would like to say that I would eat insects because they would be a sustainable source of protein but in my mind I can't get past the gross factor. It's mostly the legs and antenna freaking me out.

    I would definitely try them in unrecognisable form, like ground up into a powder, but I don't even know how you'd go about eating that
  • aquarabbit
    aquarabbit Posts: 1,622 Member
    Sure. I've had chocolate covered ants before and they were actually pretty nice. I also at a live earthworm, but it was when I was 7. But I'd try different types. The one thing that I want to try that somehow has more of a ick factor than insects is snake. I really want to try some, but it really grosses me out.
  • andiebaco
    andiebaco Posts: 211 Member
    I'm from Mexico and I've eaten Maguey's worms... Fried and in tacos with guacamole.

    I don't like them and I'll probably not eat them again.. but I tried them.
  • cedarblack
    cedarblack Posts: 63 Member
    have eaten all sorts of insects & would eat them again (apart from really fat grubs - they taste like dirt). crickets are crunchy & pretty good unless the legs are a bit spiky!
  • Nico_the_enabler
    Nico_the_enabler Posts: 123 Member
    if it was cooked by heston Blumenthal
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL6efxa1J10
    then hell yes. :D
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
    i refuse to eat crabs & prawns & such because they have too many legs.
    if you eat them, why not eat bugs?
  • kmorganlfc
    kmorganlfc Posts: 115 Member
    Take a look at a picture of a prawn - alive/uncooked - and ask yorself how much does that differ from an insect?

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