probably the insects were the first source of protein for the humanity
Farm 432
121–130 of 151 posts
Re: Farm 432
#122The widespread irrational disgust shamelessly expressed here, without regard for how expressing that disgust out loud is enforcing the status quo and contributing to the prevention of this ever being accepted in the mainstream, is exactly how I imagine the pervasiveness of homophobia in past generations.
...Which I think is a good thing, because it means it can be eliminated through a cultural shift assisted by mass media.
Re: Farm 432
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
how is there a difference? less cost = less capital = less resources.
Human capital. Fertile ground is better used for food crops rather than animal feed crops. Marginal land is most efficient for grazing livestock. But hill farmed livestock is labour intensive and skilled dirty uncomfortable work to boot. Labour is expensive.
> skilled dirty uncomfortable work
Grew up on a farm on marginal land. Actually liked it.
Re: Farm 432
#124I love that this is being discussed. I've often spoken to friends of the cultural cognitive dissonance Americans exhibit in being repulsed by eating terrestrial bugs, but loving shrimp, crab and lobster. Many Americans never see a whole shrimp and don't even realize that they have a bunch of antennae, legs, a head and would be considered completely horrifying to eat if they lived on land. Eating insects such as crick…
I think it may be because we don't eat the crab or lobster shell and all (although some eat shrimp shell). It may help widespread acceptance if there was a process where the meat was separated and made into some type of insect hamburger that could be texturized and flavored.
Crabs are eaten whole, shell and all, in the US - just only right after molting when they are called "soft-shell crabs." Come to Maryland during soft shell season, and you'll see them on every menu.
Re: Farm 432
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
If properly deep-fried, the entire shrimp is edible, head and all.
If you ever watched Fear Factor, you might remember that pretty much anything is edible, including blended raw cow eyeballs and such :) It's always a matter of whether it's enjoyable .
Michelle Lotito air an aircraft and several bicycles.
Re: Farm 432
#126This is gross! Humans should be consuming less animal protein, not inventing more new efficient ways to breed, torture and consume more.
How about considering sustainable vegan/vegetarianism before inventing personal bug death cathedrals. Sick and wrong. Burn it!
Re: Farm 432
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
People in developing countries don't have the luxury of access to the variety of different plants you need to make a vegetarian diet work.
What gave you that idea? The overwhelming majority of India is vegetarian
Yeah, no: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country#India
31% isn't an overwhelming majority. Plus you're saying that India should be the standard for scarcity of vegetables, which it clearly isn't.
Re: Farm 432
#128Why not just let the animals pasture and eat grass instead of feeding them grain? Factory farms are the big problem.
I grew up around cattle and back then there was no question that grain-finished beef produced the best quality for the buyer. It is incredibly fascinating to me to see how the marketing of grass-fed meat has actually changed taste preferences enough that we even question why we use grain today.
I'd always heard that it was cost that drove grain finishing, nothing to do with taste. Is that a myth? After all, grain finishing is a bit of a strange thing to do with animals that can't digest it well naturally, on the face of it.
Re: Farm 432
#129"Farm 432" would be a great title for a dystopian science fiction novel. I'm imagining a fictional future Soviet Union where the citizens are fed with insect products from collective farms simply named "Farm #".
Maybe because of Fahrenheit 451?
I think it's more about the idea of grouping humans together by a generic number.
Re: Farm 432
#130If you're down with eating disgusting things and only interested in nutritional value why bother with insects and not skip directly down to algae/bacteria - my guess is since these are simple organisms they can be genetically engineered for mass production with low maintenance and "tweaked" for desired nutritional values. Risks of disease sound much lower too.