EAT A BUG AND SAVE THE PLANET

EAT A BUG AND SAVE THE PLANET

“ANTS-ON-A-LOG, BEE BREAD, FLY-IN-THE-BATTER DESSERTS” followed by “BUG JUICE”. That was a full course dinner at a restaurant for lecturer [no charge] and students of KKA 5101 Environmental Management and Sustainability. The above restaurant needs to be realised soon to promote sustainability of the earth and survival of the human species.

I read this article in the local Cambodian ex-pat magazine, The Advisor ( 1$USD) while I was away in Cambodia attending to my consultancy work on the proposed new Malaysian embassy in Phnom Penh.

The world faces an ever increasing threat to food shortage. The population of the world is increasing with the present population just exceeding 6 billion and with UNDP estimates of 10 billion by 2050. The demand for biofuel has lent more stress on the availability of food for the world..

Although entomophagy (consumption of insects) are abhorring in the western world, in many other parts of the world, insects has always been a staple food. The article described a shop along Mao Tse Tung Boulevard, Phnom Penh , where eels are prepared with red weaver ants. The dish is coming back in fashion as the prices for conventional food have increased in price. Elsewhere, there are steamed silkworms, fried crickets, grasshoppers and beetles on sale at eateries. Fried Tarantulas is the country’s specialty famous around the world. The dish is served with lime sauce in a tourist restaurant. Steamed silkworms are available at $1.50 per 200gms in the Psar Thmei , main market . ( On my next visit to Cambodia, I shall visit the market and take some photos )

Other part of the world also enjoys entomophagy. The Thais in the northern region consume grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches and caterpillars as snack foods. Similarly in China and Korea, silkworms are fried and also consumed.

In parts of Africa, various species of insects are consumed alive or cooked.
In the town of Cotocollao, Ecuador, white beetles (scarabaeidae Cyclocephala) is cooked with vegetables. In South America, Longhorn beetles, larvae, Cicadas, Lemon Ants (Hormiga Culona), Grasshoppers ( Melanoplus Femurrubrum), Dragon Fly, Honey Bees, Termites and including mealworms are consumed and even added as a condiment or flavouring in food preparation. The tacos in Mexico are flavoured with crushed “jumiles” ( aka Stinkbugs ( Hermiptera Pentatomidae) which have a deep aromatic flavor like the taste of mint or cinnamon.

In Australia, the Oecophylla (Ants) are eaten as bushfood by eating live the abdomen of insects. It’s tasty with a sweet and sour flavour and considered thirst quenching.
A full list of “Insect Snacks from around the World “may be obtained from the link http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ythfacts/bugfood/yf813 : University of Kentucky Department of Entomology

Why should we be eating bugs ? Well according to the 2006 UN report “Livestock’s Long Shadow – environmental Issues and Options”, the livestock sector generates 18% more green house gases than the transport sector. The livestocks are a major contributor of methane gas to the atmosphere and also is responsible for emitting ammonia which causes acid rain. The livestock industry is ever increasing and presently occupies almost 30% of the worlds land surface.

The UN FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) is currently recommending developing nations to develop the potential of insects as food source and also into the export of this commodity to the world. Recently, the FAO organised a conference on entophomagy in Chiang Mai, Thailand in a bid to promote the consumption and rearing of insects.

Insects are high in protein and low in fat . In fact a 100 gms of crickets contain 12gms of protein and 5.5 gms of fat whereas beef contains 18% more protein but also 18% more fat as well. The amount of water required to grow 100gms of crickets is almost negligible as compared to the water consumed by the cattle in producing their meat.

Apart from direct consumption, the rearing of insects for production of feed stock also has great potential. As it is, the insects are already natural food for the chickens, ducks and other bird species. As such there is no question of their natural suitability as food for these animals. The insects can also be mixed with feed for livestock cattle to increase their protein content. Even fishmeal may be prepared form these bugs.

Insects are very efficient converters of plant matter into protein as compared to protein rich vegetation such as soybean, corn , etc. This means less impact on the environment when micro-livestock farming ( rearing of insects for food) is practiced on a wider scale to replace traditional farming. In fact , a David Gracier from Providence, Rhode Island, has set up Sunrise Land Shrimp, a micro-livestock farm in 2005 in the United States.

At Khon Khaen University, Thailand, the Thaïs have developed a low cost cricket rearing technique and has taught it to some 4,500 families. On a plot of a few hundred square feet, a family can raise crickets in large quantity to significantly improve their household income. The insects do not require much food or water and they reproduce extremely fast. In the event of disease or failure, the financial impact is not strong as compared to a loss of a single animal say a pig, cow or goat.

Finally there is much potential to exploit and further promote micro-livestock farming and the practice of entomophagy to contribute to the sustainability of the earth.

3rd August 2008.