Eating Insects..

When I think of eating insects, all I think about is those nasty looking worms Willy Wonka had to eat on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He gets them whenever he first finds the Oompa Loompas from the rainforest. They offer him the worm mush as a gift. Johnny Depp made these insects look entirely disgusting. My revulsion for bugs has always been bad enough just thinking about them being around me. I do not think I could imagine intentionally eating one. However according to this webpage in other parts of the world, people think differently. For example, in South America, if you go to a movie theater, instead of eating popcorn, you might eat a carton of roasted ants.  They also eat Cicadas in other parts of the world as meals, because they are a cheap meal. That sure does sound appetizing, am I right?

I also did not know that I was intentionally eating an insect whenever I eat a dyed food. Any red or pinked product that has been dyed, including food, beverages, and lipsticks, can have “Cochineal Extract”, which is code for “Cochineal Scale Insect”.

If I think about eating an insect unintentionally, it does not bother me. I did not intentionally cook an insect and digest him. If something accidently gets ingested, at least I do not know about it at the time, and am not physically conscious of eating the insect. I do not think I could handle eating an insect intentionally, unless I had some major persuasion. I also might eat an insect if it was coated in chocolate, or had some type of seasoning on it. This might hide the taste, and it also makes it seem more appetizing. If I ever had to eat or decided to eat an insect, I do not think I could stomach eating larvae or anything squishy. I think I could handle something with a crunch if it was coated with a lot of flavor. I also could eat an insect if that was the only means of my survival. I think if you were stranded somewhere, or about to starve to death, I would probably catch myself the first insect I could find. Eating a few insects would definitely beat dying from starvation.

I’ve always heard of people eating bugs, and wondered what they may taste like. In no time soon, though, do I wish to find out.  

**All information found from The Earwig's Tail by May R. Berenbaum, and the National Geographic article located at the webpage above**