Eat The Bugs - Megathread - 🪱🪳🦗🪲

I think it's high time we create a separate thread just to throw in the unrelenting wave of articles, pushing for people to eat the bugs.

In the last few couple months, we've had articles like these:

More people are eating bugs – but is it ethical to farm insects for food?

Insect farming is growing in popularity as an alternative to traditional livestock and feed production. A scholar evaluates what that means in terms of trillions of insect lives.

theconversation.com

Why Bugs Must Be a Bigger Part of the Human Food Chain

They're fine for snacking, but insect protein has its greatest potential as nutrient rich, climate-friendly livestock feed.

www.bloomberg.com

You WILL eat ze bugs, goy.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Forreal crustaceans and insects are both arthropods and edible as long as you prepare them properly

Arthropod covers an entire phylum.

The difference, as I and others have pointed out multiple times, is that edible crustaceans have meaty muscle or flesh, which is both a dense, nutrient rich source of protein and also easily extracted and separated from unusable elements of the creature.

Insects - hexapoda and a few other subphylum of arthropod - that are the focus of the "eat the bugs" campaign, don't have that. They are a low density source of protein, which you necessarily consume alongside their digestive tract and their poorly bioavailable chitinous exoskeleton. While they are edible, they are generally a poverty food.

Saying they're all arthropods is like saying that tomatoes are angiosperms. While it's true, the definition is so broad that it's useless for the current discussion.

 

[Android raptor]

Arthropod covers an entire phylum.

The difference, as I and others have pointed out multiple times, is that edible crustaceans have meaty muscle or flesh, which is both a dense, nutrient rich source of protein and also easily extracted and separated from unusable elements of the creature.

Insects - hexapoda and a few other subphylum of arthropod - that are the focus of the "eat the bugs" campaign, don't have that. They are a low density source of protein, which you necessarily consume alongside their digestive tract and their poorly bioavailable chitinous exoskeleton. While they are edible, they are generally a poverty food.

Except there are big, meaty bugs just like there are big, meaty crustaceans. It's just they're most common near the equator, where they're been eaten for probably as long as humans have inhabited those areas.

Seriously, some of those big beetle larva qnd whickity grubs and shit put jumbo shrimp to shame with how big and meaty those things are.

Also who the fuck taking the time to extract the digestive tract of a damn shrimp or crawdad, just rip the tail off and enjoy, unless you didn't cook it properly all the germs have been killed.

Plus people straight up eat the digestive tracts of vertebrates. Ever heard of chitlins?

 

[neverendingmidi]

Also who the fuck taking the time to extract the digestive tract of a damn shrimp or crawdad, just rip the tail off and enjoy, unless you didn't cook it properly all the germs have been killed.

Plus people straight up eat the digestive tracts of vertebrates. Ever heard of chitlins?

Every shrimp preparation, excluding some peel and eat shrimp, has the intestine that runs along the back removed. Hell, even mollusks are usually soaked in water where they don't eat anything before they're sold and served.

And you obviously don't know the rigorous and thorough cleaning and soaking chitlins/tripe go through, and some people still won't eat them because they're part of the digestive tissue.

 

[George Lucas]

Except there are big, meaty bugs just like there are big, meaty crustaceans. It's just they're most common near the equator, where they're been eaten for probably as long as humans have inhabited those areas.

Seriously, some of those big beetle larva qnd whickity grubs and shit put jumbo shrimp to shame with how big and meaty those things are.

Also who the fuck taking the time to extract the digestive tract of a damn shrimp or crawdad, just rip the tail off and enjoy, unless you didn't cook it properly all the germs have been killed.

Plus people straight up eat the digestive tracts of vertebrates. Ever heard of chitlins?

You are a fucking retard. Do you think those large grubs can be farmed? They are extremely sensitive to the environment. As soon as you take them away from the equator, they either die or produce small offspring again. Large, meaty crustaceans are available all over the world, and some species can be farmed, but the largest and most nutritious species are quite expensive. Scale did not improve the viability of seafood as a staple. It is nonsensical for a number of reasons, and applying that to bugs, which are smaller and much less nutritionally efficient by not just weight but also volume, you will realize that it is physically impossible to feed our population on bugs alone. Vegetarian diets are more viable.

I challenge you to live on a diet of shellfish, let alone bugs. You will either run out of money or die. It is not a sustainable diet unless you (a) live by a source and (b) know what you are doing.

 

[Tsukasa Kadoya]

It is nonsensical for a number of reasons, and applying that to bugs, which are smaller and much less nutritionally efficient by not just weight but also volume, you will realize that it is physically impossible to feed our population on bugs alone.

You could feed the population if its culled down to nearly nothing.
The entire plan is to wipe out most of the "useless eaters"

 

[Android raptor]

You are a fucking retard. Do you think those large grubs can be farmed? They are extremely sensitive to the environment. As soon as you take them away from the equator, they either die or produce small offspring again. Large, meaty crustaceans are available all over the world, and some species can be farmed, but the largest and most nutritious species are quite expensive. Scale did not improve the viability of seafood as a staple. It is nonsensical for a number of reasons, and applying that to bugs, which are smaller and much less nutritionally efficient by not just weight but also volume, you will realize that it is physically impossible to feed our population on bugs alone. Vegetarian diets are more viable.

I challenge you to live on a diet of shellfish, let alone bugs. You will either run out of money or die. It is not a sustainable diet unless you (a) live by a source and (b) know what you are doing.

I mean, frozen shrimp is already one of my main sources of animal protein. I don't eat beef, chicken, or pork.

Also I raise bugs myself. I live the bug life.

Every shrimp preparation, excluding some peel and eat shrimp, has the intestine that runs along the back removed. Hell, even mollusks are usually soaked in water where they don't eat anything before they're sold and served.

And you obviously don't know the rigorous and thorough cleaning and soaking chitlins/tripe go through, and some people still won't eat them because they're part of the digestive tissue.

Not head-on shrimp. You never had fresh, head-on shrimp before? In a low country boil? Where the seasonings&juices get all up in the head?

Damn now I'm hungry

 

[Sugriva]

Also who the fuck taking the time to extract the digestive tract of a damn shrimp or crawdad, just rip the tail off and enjoy

Most shrimp you buy at the store have been de-veined. It's very noticeable if you try to eat a big one that still has its shit tube.

 

[Johnny Salami]

"That research is false, the ones I select are my bible"
Quite irrational soon-to-be-bug-eater.

We've just learned that several Alzheimers data was straight up manipulated. We have a a study that suggest vaccinated women are statistically significantly more likely to miscarriage but was hidden. Research can say whatever you want it to say.

 

[Android raptor]

Most shrimp you buy at the store have been de-veined. It's very noticeable if you try to eat a big one that still has its shit tube.

That's why you gotta go to the coast and try to get fresh shrimp brought in from the shrimp boats.

 

[polonium]

inb4 "big yikes friendo, you don't need to consume so many calories! 1000 calories is more than enough!"

If you undernourish people and reduce their muscle mass then their base metabolic rate goes down quite a bit.

 

[DeadwastePrime]

everyone has eaten a little shrimp poo. it hasnt killed anyone

 

[Capsaicin Addict]

For me, the proof is in how they talk about the virtues of this stuff, but you'll never see them practice it. It's just like how they'll tell you that you need to reduce your carbon footprint through buying EVs and traveling less while they take their private jet to Cancun.

Feudalism, 2.0.

 

[Dysnomia]

Except there are big, meaty bugs just like there are big, meaty crustaceans. It's just they're most common near the equator, where they're been eaten for probably as long as humans have inhabited those areas.

Seriously, some of those big beetle larva qnd whickity grubs and shit put jumbo shrimp to shame with how big and meaty those things are.

Also who the fuck taking the time to extract the digestive tract of a damn shrimp or crawdad, just rip the tail off and enjoy, unless you didn't cook it properly all the germs have been killed.

Plus people straight up eat the digestive tracts of vertebrates. Ever heard of chitlins?

I believe the chitlins are cleaned out. Or they should be for safety. They are rinsed/boiled in several changes of water with salt and picked clean of whatever is in there. I remember they used to sell them in big buckets on the meat aisle back before our supermarket closed. I assumed those were well cleaned.

I mean, frozen shrimp is already one of my main sources of animal protein. I don't eat beef, chicken, or pork.

Also I raise bugs myself. I live the bug life.

Not head-on shrimp. You never had fresh, head-on shrimp before? In a low country boil? Where the seasonings&juices get all up in the head?

Damn now I'm hungry

I like bugs. But not to eat. They are fascinating creatures to observe.

I'm from the northeast so you don't often see people boiling seafood like that. When you by shrimp here it's mostly just the middle part, sans head, tail and innards. It's just not appetizing to me. Shrimp flavoring is fine. But I don't want to eat it.

I think if they tried to market those big ass larva as a shrimp alternative maybe some people would bite. But it wouldn't catch on too widely. I think it would take something aquatic to do that. Maybe those water scorpions that aren't actually scorpions? I'm still not eating them though.

 

[Android raptor]

I believe the chitlins are cleaned out. Or they should be for safety. They are rinsed/boiled in several changes of water with salt and picked clean of whatever is in there. I remember they used to sell them in big buckets on the meat aisle back before our supermarket closed. I assumed those were well cleaned.



I like bugs. But not to eat. They are fascinating creatures to observe.

I'm from the northeast so you don't often see people boiling seafood like that. When you by shrimp here it's mostly just the middle part, sans head, tail and innards. It's just not appetizing to me. Shrimp flavoring is fine. But I don't want to eat it.

I think if they tried to market those big ass larva as a shrimp alternative maybe some people would bite. But it wouldn't catch on too widely. I think it would take something aquatic to do that. Maybe those water scorpions that aren't actually scorpions? I'm still not eating them though.

I'm in the deep south so we also have crayfish which I'm not sure can be cooked cut up. It's mainly near the coast when local shrimp are available. As long as it's cooked properly to kill all diseases and tastes good, I don't give a fuck what form its in.

I wouldn't eat any scorpions because I keep them as pets. I'd eat the fuck out of a beetle larva as long as it was cooked properly tho.

Hell technically I have eaten beetle larva since I eat dried mealworms occasionally. They're not bad, mostly just plain and vaguely nutty. I need to try them in a mix with nori and dried shrimp/minnows like you get at Asian grocery stores. I fucking love that shit for some reason (dried seafood snacks).

 

[TowinKarz]

If bugs were this desirable, they would've been integrated into human farming/animal husbandry practices long ago.

If you or anyone else wants to eat them, that's fine, I'm not going to stop you.

But I am going to view with suspicion the creepy and cult-like desire you see today from people trying to convince me that I should support making them a part of my diet on the (dubious) promise that it's better for someone, anyone, in the long run.

 

[Safir]

If bugs were this desirable, they would've been integrated into human farming/animal husbandry practices long ago.

Bugs are not desirable, but that's not the globohomo's argument. Their argument is bugs are good, and people should be forced to eat them for a generation, after which they will become desirable. There is a precedent in the devil's apples.

Every shrimp preparation, excluding some peel and eat shrimp, has the intestine that runs along the back removed. Hell, even mollusks are usually soaked in water where they don't eat anything before they're sold and served.

I eat shrimp with the shell. I eat kiwis with the skin, too.
(But I have to skin each individual segment sector of an orange.)

 

[Android raptor]

I eat shrimp with the shell. I eat kiwis with the skin, too.
(But I have to skin each individual segment sector of an orange.)

I eat kiwis with the skin but the nasty end bits go to the bugs. Bugs get orange peels and stuff too.

 

[Tsukasa Kadoya]

Most shrimp you buy at the store have been de-veined. It's very noticeable if you try to eat a big one that still has its shit tube.

Slightly OT, but I once got a shrimp basket from Dairy Queen on a road trip that had the poop tubes intact.
I threw that shit out immediately.

 

[Male Idiot]

Shrimp can be degutted. You savage.

If you want me to eat bugs, genetically engineer bigger bugs that can be gutted. And also a cute moth pet.

The big beetles don't work. They grow very slowly ( 6 to 21 months, depending on species), and the larva are full of shit so they are only good for niggers.
They are also rare and picky eaters.

They are also strong. Imagine if you could ride one! On Mars!

Potato is also great but very efficient. But the bugs they are pushing is mostly chitin and shieeet.

Feed the journos raw stink beetles.

 

[独人13]

"You WILL eat ze bugs, Goy"
Chink: