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posted by martyb on Thursday May 16 2019, @04:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the how-abot-a-nice-pupae-puree? dept.

Phys.org:

Consuming insects is already an everyday practice for two billion people worldwide, largely in the global east and south. Rearing them uses less land, energy, water and produces fewer greenhouse gases than traditional meats like chicken and beef, and more of their body is digestible (80-100 percent, compared to only 40 percent for beef).

They are also better for us: they are rich in protein, fat, and energy and can be a significant source of vitamins and minerals. But the Western world has still not embraced this wonder food.

Researchers think they know why: the 'disgust' factor. Insects are gross. The more interesting question is: given the enormous benefits, how can we convince people to get over the grossness?

The article argues that eating sushi and lobster was once considered disgusting, too.


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  • (Score: 2, Touché) by acid andy on Thursday May 16 2019, @10:36AM (6 children)

    by acid andy (1683) on Thursday May 16 2019, @10:36AM (#844206) Homepage Journal

    Yeah, newsflash, eating bits of mashed up corpse is disgusting. We're just brainwashed culturally to compartmentalize meat as being different from gory bits of death. If you kill an animal or insect and mash it up, of course it's going to be gross. Once you're cool with that, vegetarianism is the only palatable and delicious choice.

    If you disagree then I humbly suggest you hunt, prepare and eat your food in a fair fight with your bare hands and no technology or tools. If you're still OK with it then, then the disgust factor isn't relevant to you. There are still ecological, philosophical and economic arguments in favor of going veggie where the resources are available, though.

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    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @12:41PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @12:41PM (#844246)

    As long as you only eat stray and wild insects, then who cares. Same as china eating dogs.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @01:18PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 16 2019, @01:18PM (#844260)

    You're projecting your own squeamishness onto everyone else.
    I have no problem butchering meat and consider a fine cut of meat beautiful, not gross.
    You are an anomaly in the history of the human species.

  • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday May 16 2019, @06:49PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday May 16 2019, @06:49PM (#844403) Journal

    ...in a fair fight with your bare hands and no technology or tools.

    I never understand this challenge.

    Why are the animals allowed to use the benefits of their evolution (claws, speed, etc.) in a "fair fight" but humans aren't allowed to use the benefits or our evolution (our big brains).

    Back on topic: I'll try eating just about anything, once. All they have to do is make it taste good.

  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday May 16 2019, @09:13PM

    by Bot (3902) on Thursday May 16 2019, @09:13PM (#844469) Journal

    >If you disagree then I humbly suggest you hunt, prepare and eat your food in a fair fight with your bare hands.

    Only when the boar, who incidentally ruins your whole vegetarian meal, fights the same way.

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    Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Thursday May 16 2019, @10:49PM (1 child)

    by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Thursday May 16 2019, @10:49PM (#844496) Journal

    Huh? What does a "fair fight" have to do with disgust?

    I have no problem slaughtering or butchering an animal. I'm not disgusted by it, and I actually agree with you that people who are need to understand where their food comes from. There are no "fingers" on chickens for example, nor does meat generally come in a nice packaged "boneless skinless" version on the animal. Also, I deplore the conditions on factory farms and have been trying to buy more meat from local farms where I know the animals are treated well.

    But that has absolutely no relation to your challenge to fight animals with no tools and bare hands. I understand and respect your ethical choice not to eat animals, but your post is talking about two different issues.

    • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Sunday June 02 2019, @03:28PM

      by acid andy (1683) on Sunday June 02 2019, @03:28PM (#850587) Homepage Journal

      Huh? What does a "fair fight" have to do with disgust?

      But that has absolutely no relation to your challenge to fight animals with no tools and bare hands. I understand and respect your ethical choice not to eat animals, but your post is talking about two different issues.

      I'll grant you that the "fair fight" point is only tangentially related to the one I made about disgust. I suppose I couldn't resist taking the opportunity to bring it up. The relation it does have is that if you have to hunt an animal yourself with your bare hands, you are likely to experience the process of its transition from a living being to a foodstuff far more vividly and in much greater and more prolonged detail than someone else handling that process entirely, isolating you completely from it, such that your food doesn't even look like an animal. If you had weapons or tools, again, these could allow you to shorten the experience and distance yourself from it somewhat. If the animal can harm you and you must confront its suffering directly, for some people that may cause a change in attitude. It's about breaking down cognitive dissonance. If you never had it to begin with, then I suppose this isn't applicable to you.

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      If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?