Insects not a substitute for steak

I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I don’t need a study to tell me that most people aren’t interested in eating insects.

Why is this so you may ask?

Because it’s yucky.

In fact, the study surmised that even people who do eat insects prefer not to eat farmed insects.

“We have limited resources and we need to devote them to the most promising alternatives,” said Dustin Crummett, the co-author of the study and executive director of the Insect Institute. “It turns out that farmed insects consistently score the lowest of any of the meat substitutes and the actual market for them is incredibly small, even in places that have a tradition of eating insects.”

Not sure why this is an issue but taste discerning insect eaters have spoken loud and clear.

I remember many dry years when grasshoppers were so thick they nearly carpeted the ground. But not once did I think to myself, wow what a treat, and gather them up for supper.

I also have to wonder how many insects I would have to eat in order to get the protein that’s readily available in nice, juicy steak?

When I was a kid, my cousin once offered me chocolate covered ants and fried grasshoppers that he had ordered from some catalog. That was before we had the internet and Amazon. Although he was my favorite cousin and I was always trying to impress him, I still couldn’t eat the insects.

And imagine the devastation if insects, like grasshoppers, escaped from a farm and attacked nearby crops, which is what grasshoppers do. Of if the insects that escaped were able to spread diseases on farms and ranches. I think farmers and ranchers already have enough to worry about with insects that aren’t farmed. Even the above mentioned Insect Institute warns against these potential situations and says on its website, “Insect farming also poses other risks, such as the potential for escapes from farms or improper disposal or diseased insects to spread pathogens to wild populations.”

The Insect Institute also says, “We endorse the role of alternative proteins and novel foods in addressing the shortcomings of our current food system, but we advise against classing farmed insects alongside alternative proteins which have realistic prospects of transforming our food system by competing with conventional animal products.”

I have to give them credit or being realistic and cautious in regards to insect farming.

So I guess it goes without saying that I won’t be feasting on insects at a Fourth of July picnic, just like most Americans.