Going for Grub(s)

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

Due to circumstances sometimes under my control and other times not, I've been absent from BCP. There are more posts in my notes and if work smooths out, I will be back to contributing regularly. 

Insects as Alternative Foods

The news was recently full of reports on the World Economic Forum supporting the eating of various insect as a way to combat the supposed scarcity of food worldwide. This report is tough reading to get to the important parts, so I'm linking to an earlier article from the WEF on the topic.  

(Full Disclosure: I have eaten cooked/roasted insects and found the taste... not good, but not terrible either. I've eaten things that were much worse. The grasshoppers were sort of nutty, and if you can ignore what they are, not bad. It helps to know the people who are serving, so everything is prepared properly. Beer is also recommended.)

There is an actual UN agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, that promotes insect harvesting for food and as a cash crop. The selling of potentially crop-damaging pests as a benefit to the local people is something I never thought about.

Here is an article with a definite survival focus that discusses eating insects, especially which ones to look for and those to avoid. 

While insects could maybe, possibly, sort-of supplement diets, I don't see how this will be normalized any time soon in the USA. Viewed globally, the eating of insects is seen as occurring in Third or Fourth World countries.

However, if a fair examination of different cuisines is made, things aren't that different in First World gourmet menus. For example...

 

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/recipe-escargot-a-la-perigourdine

Escargot

This is the common Garden Snail, which is considered a pest here in the USA. It is an example of an invasive species brought here and allowed to ruin our environment. The snail pictured is the same type of snail native to the Mediterranean region, and is raised as a food source there. 

For those interested, here is the recipe. Enjoy! Or not. You get to decide.

Escargot a la Perigourdine

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/recipe-escargot-a-la-perigourdine

As you can see, there seems to be a "menu creep" where what once  started out as peasant (i.e. subsistence) food made its way up the food chain and on to expensive plates. That may happen in the future with eating insects, but that will take a lot of time and a lot of work to happen here. 

Recap and Takeaway

• Besides the fact that multinational organizations and potentially our government want to change how we grow our food and what we eat, insects do have a place in feeding many people in the world.
• As a normal part of a western diet, insects will not be added any time soon.
• Knowing which insects can be eaten and those to avoid is important information to learn, especially in a wilderness survival situation.

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NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.