Even though insect exoskeleton and fungi are both made of chitin, I find bouncy fungi tissue kind of fun to chew, while bug parts are crunchy in a sort of uncomfortable get-stuck-in-your-teeth sort of way, like the downsides of popcorn, but with less upside.
I also tried some "chirps" which were chips made with cricket powder, and then the texture just wasn't right. Hopefully the right chef is out there to change my mind, but for now I'm team fungus all the way.
I ate some food made with mealworm powder this weekend - it blew my mind. Some real good chefs cooked it up, they did blueberry donuts made with 20% mealworm powder. They also did tacos, where the tortillas were 20% mealworm powder, and the rest was just really good veggies/beans/sauce. They had fried ones with crickets you could sprinkle on top.
I got the cricket powder I linked and I put it in sometimes when I cook or bake something. You can't taste it or smell it so it doesn't feel like eating insects, although there is nothing wrong with that either. I recommend giving it a try. Beware that crickets and shellfish seem to be similar in terms of allergens though.
You already eat crabs, crayfish, shrimp, and honey. Asian peoples also consume many other insects as food, which reduces the demand and price for Western food.
Has the shell, legs, head, intestine and organs been removed from the cockroach so that only the meat is left? I would like to see the machinery needed to replicate the edible part of a lobster abdomen (or tail as it is called) in a cockroach.
The part that people generally eat on a lobster is the muscles of the claws and the muscles of the abdomen. The rest is generally discarded. It similar to how most people don't tend to eat the hair of cows, but rather the meat from cow muscles.
I would claim that it is actually a large difference between eating a cockroach and a lobster.
There is a literal global organization trying to force us to eat bugs?
Could we please not discuss ridiculous conspiracy theories on hn? Reddit is already infected with qanon an the like, we don't need that rubbish here. Thank you.
How come so many Americans are afraid of eating insects?
I have often seen this meme, and never understood it. I know that the average American is a bit more squeamish about a lot of things, from nudity to eating raw meat. The former can be explained by the puritan influence, the latter by the food standards which would possibly make things like Mett[0] a bit unsafe.
This, however - together with the opposition to walkable cities - I can't wrap my head around. How can eating an insect burger be worse than eating chicken nuggets?
You read a lot more into my comment than is actually there, which is probably the reason for your rather flippant and response.
In Europe, insect meat is still extremely rare, and where it is to be found, it is experimental and expensive. The latter will of course change through economies of scale once they reach a certain stage.
However, the public perception of insects as food is very different. I have never or heard seen a sulky "I will not eat ze bugs" comment in my language, the whole"globalists want you to eat bugs" conspiracy is mostly unknown, and would be seen as foolish.
I have not said that eating insects is the norm, but many here see it as part of the diet of the future, without that squeamishness that seems to be so prevalent in the US.
If I were to respond in the same tone as you, I would imply that you already knew that, but didn't want to let a chance pass to make yourself the victim, as Americans often like to pretend that all Europeans look down on you. However, I actually believe this is just a misunderstanding.
I know I probably won't get any information from you, since you now see me as a debate opponent instead of a discussion partner, but I was genuinely interested in the reason for the extreme opposition to insect food in the US. Maybe since English is my second language, which I learned in part by reading a lot of rather old books, my grammar and word choices are hindering me in making myself clear.
>Nah, you just wanted to bash "Americans", and the rest of this comment is just an attempt at deflection.
Ah, I was wrong then. It was not a misunderstanding, you are simply replying in bad faith.
Well, I hope your life gets better, to the point where you are at least partially at peace with your American identity, and no longer feel the need to write such embarrassing comments.
Not just europe! It's quite unheard of here in the developing third world too.
In fact, south american countries seem to be somewhat famous for their meat. Brazil is one of the biggest producers and exporters of meat in the world and if it were up to me I'd burn down the whole amazon jungle to make room for more production.
Except I'm not american. I'm brazilian. Puritan influence? Can't get any further than that. Do you actually think it's just americans who'd refuse to eat bugs?
I'm not gonna eat insects dude. I'm just not gonna do it. They could be the literal embodiment of protein and I still wouldn't eat them. There's just no way you can convince me to do that.
I don't care how much space, energy, water, whatever else is required for meat production either. That's what I want to eat. That's what I'm gonna eat.
I don't eat chicken nuggets either. I eat meat and assorted vegetables. Properly cooked.
OK, so my hypothesis was incorrect when it comes to your comment. But while you have convinced me that you feel quite strongly about it, I don't feel like you answered the "why", or maybe I just don't get it. You repeatedly told me that you would never consider it, and in the other comment you said that "if it were up to me I'd burn down the whole amazon jungle to make room for more production“.
The fact that this would accelerate global warming which will hit third world countries the most aside, why do you feel so strongly about this? I'm also not a vegetarian and I love a good steak, especially when it's served rare, but this does not form a part of my identity, so it's hard for me to understand.
The "why" is history. When I studied the past, I saw that in most societies the upper classes would gorge themselves on feasts containing the finest, fattiest meats while the lower classes would feed on left overs from the harvests. I say "history" like it's ancient but that was the reality of my previous generation: I literally grew up with my father telling me of his hardships, a major symbol of which was the fact there were times when he could not afford meat.
That's why it's an indignity to be reduced to eating insects. You can bet your house the billionaires of this world won't be eating them.
Feel strongly about it? A couple years ago in my country a president was elected partly by promising citizens they would be able to eat fine meat regularly again. He's a communist so of course he didn't deliver, and it looks like people are starting to feel the misery of it.
Also, global warming is not really a concern to me. Other countries have been destroying the planet for literal centuries and getting rich off it but when it's our turn to exploit our land we can't? I reject that notion.
People love to talk about the "externalities" of meat production. As far as I'm concerned, the biggest externality of all is the cost of my country not being rich and prosperous and developed. You know, like the former british empire with their famous steaks, now mostly represented by the US. They might want to factor that externality in before they talk to us about climate nonsense.
I just look at the nutritional profile and the conditions under which they are produced and see a good alternative to industrial meat (cow, pig, ...) production.
I think you should be aware that the world is much bigger than the US and in many other countries insects are part of their traditional cuisine: "Over 2 billion people are estimated to eat insects on a daily basis." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insects_as_food
I'm not american, I'm brazilian. I'm very aware of the fact you mentioned and I think it's disgusting. I work hard because I want to live well in general and that includes not being reduced to eating literal insects.
I seriously didn't think I'd have to justify this. Why does everyone single out americans anyway? Do you think the rest of the world is okay with eating insects? No way. We want to eat well too. We want to live well.
Reducing the entire world to your standards - including what means "eating well" - is common around here to come from that country. But I was wrong in that assumption. And to your other question: yes I am fine eating insects, as a matter of fact I do and don't feel at all dystopian.
(1) https://ca.entomofarms.com/products/organic-cricket-powder