The Entomophagy In The Grocery Industry

Some people will reject the idea of eating bugs immediately. They have a predetermined mindset that bugs are dirty and gross. What they do not know though, is that they have been eating bugs all of their lives. In the United States of America the Food and Drug Administration, also known as the FDA, runs the show when it comes to protecting the health of its citizens. One of the many topics that they govern over is the safety of food consumed. This is important because the FDA is forgiving when it comes to bugs in food. They allow a certain amount of insects, like worms and aphids, as long as it does not ruin the look of the food. There are countless examples of when the FDA would overlook insects in food. A lot of cases have to do …show more content…
According to the United Nations, insects are one of the best proposed solutions thus far for addressing world hunger issues (Parotte 2016). They store for much longer, depending on how they are prepared, and are far less expensive to transport. There are more than 1,900 edible insects discovered thus far, with enormous potential for ending food insecurity in many parts of the world. The biggest challenge of course, is overcoming the mental barrier that many cultures have against entomophagy. Many inventive food scientists and world hunger-focused organizations are devising methods of making insects more appealing as food already, and in some places it is becoming quite trendy to eat various kinds of bugs. Entomophagy is by far the simplest and most cost-effective way of combating world hunger, so the future looks rather bright in this …show more content…
Our team member, Nate, experienced bugs as food when he was on a family vacation in Belize. While on his trip he tried eating live termites, most of the American tourist refused to try them but the locals and Nate tried it. This shows how different people from around the world eat bugs and don’t, and here are a few examples of the regions that do eat bugs regularly. US News and World Report has an article, Countries That Eat Bugs by M. Weiner, in their travel section listing popular countries that bugs are eaten in. Thailand is a country that commonly eats bugs, “favorites include grasshopper, woodworm, bamboo worm and Maeng Da, or 3.5 inch-long water beetles.” Another country that is listed is Brazil. Weiner wrote, “in Brazil, içás, or queen ants, are a favorite snack. Although ants were once eaten only by poorer citizens, this tradition is now celebrated (Weiner,