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Edible insects are a novelty today, but they'll be mainstream tomorrow

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Re: Edible insects are a novelty today, but they'll be mainstream tomorrow

#11

Post by yincrash »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #3
tomjen3 wrote: post #2

Unlikely. They are icky, unappealing and do not have the "man" quality one gets from real meat. Food is mostly about taste and convenience today, because we have access to enough of it - insects doesn't really give you either. In short it is highly unlikely that I will wake up tomorrow and eat insects, nor that the majority in the developed world will. And yes shrimp may technically be insects. Technically correct do…

Lobster is a bug; it used to be 'ick' and now its 'yum'. The ick factor is cultural. No reason the OP can't be right - if bugs are tasty, and some people start eating them, and then more people, they could easily become a regular thing.

I don't find lobsters scurrying behind my trashcan though.

Re: Edible insects are a novelty today, but they'll be mainstream tomorrow

#13

Post by Nursie »

Nursie wrote: post #10

People have been publishing this article every few months for as long as I can remember. They may well be an efficient form of protein but... squick. Basically.

But kudos to them for working the word 'artisanal' into a story about eating insects

Re: Edible insects are a novelty today, but they'll be mainstream tomorrow

#14

Post by martindale »

yincrash wrote: post #11
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lobster is a bug; it used to be 'ick' and now its 'yum'. The ick factor is cultural. No reason the OP can't be right - if bugs are tasty, and some people start eating them, and then more people, they could easily become a regular thing.

I don't find lobsters scurrying behind my trashcan though.

Well, actually... http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z54da6-fz94/hqdefault.jpg

Okay, so it's a coconut crab, not a lobster, but...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab

Re: Edible insects are a novelty today, but they'll be mainstream tomorrow

#15

Post by barrkel »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #3
tomjen3 wrote: post #2

Unlikely. They are icky, unappealing and do not have the "man" quality one gets from real meat. Food is mostly about taste and convenience today, because we have access to enough of it - insects doesn't really give you either. In short it is highly unlikely that I will wake up tomorrow and eat insects, nor that the majority in the developed world will. And yes shrimp may technically be insects. Technically correct do…

Lobster is a bug; it used to be 'ick' and now its 'yum'. The ick factor is cultural. No reason the OP can't be right - if bugs are tasty, and some people start eating them, and then more people, they could easily become a regular thing.

Lobster is 100% bug to me - huge yuck.

Re: Edible insects are a novelty today, but they'll be mainstream tomorrow

#16

Post by Brakenshire »

Nursie wrote: post #10

People have been publishing this article every few months for as long as I can remember. They may well be an efficient form of protein but... squick. Basically.

It's just unfamiliarity - you would have the same reaction to a prawn if you hadn't grown up with it. And many outsiders would have a similar reaction to squid cooked in its ink (Spain), half-rotted herring (Scandinavia), or even just strongly flavoured blue cheese (everywhere). For that matter, lots of people feel icky about fresh tomatoes.

It's not likely to become something which is mainstream overnight, but there are large parts of the population in the West who actively seek out different experiences. Or, to put it another way, the food market is heavily segmented by interest, class, age, location (national, regional, and metropolitan/rural), and so on. In the short term, you're likely to get movement into early/adventurous adopter parts of the market.

Re: Edible insects are a novelty today, but they'll be mainstream tomorrow

#17

Post by neuronic »

tomjen3 wrote: post #2

Unlikely. They are icky, unappealing and do not have the "man" quality one gets from real meat. Food is mostly about taste and convenience today, because we have access to enough of it - insects doesn't really give you either. In short it is highly unlikely that I will wake up tomorrow and eat insects, nor that the majority in the developed world will. And yes shrimp may technically be insects. Technically correct do…

There have been successful attempts at simply grinding the insects and making them into "meatballs" etc. All that's left over is a sand-like form of them that is highly nutritious and can be processed further.

Sustainability may be a choice today, but it won't be in the future. That's not even a debate.

Looking at r/fitness and trillions of similar boards online, people are readily willing to chug down any sort of powder without need for control through FDA etc. You know, for them "gainz".

So if insects' weird forms are never even detectable by your eyes or tongue, than why should people shy away from them?

I find it pretty crazy that a mental image of a cricket is considered more unappetizing than a bleeding out cow, than a pig kept in a 5ft x 5ft space for all of its life, than newborn chicks ground to shreds by some vacuuming grinding machine because they aren't profitable etc....

Re: Edible insects are a novelty today, but they'll be mainstream tomorrow

#18

Post by mb_72 »

bluedino wrote: post #9
tomjen3 wrote: post #2

Unlikely. They are icky, unappealing and do not have the "man" quality one gets from real meat. Food is mostly about taste and convenience today, because we have access to enough of it - insects doesn't really give you either. In short it is highly unlikely that I will wake up tomorrow and eat insects, nor that the majority in the developed world will. And yes shrimp may technically be insects. Technically correct do…

It would only take a generation to change that.

Indeed - raise your kids to eat insects or insect products, and they won't think twice about it. My wife grew up in Eastern Europe and savours the thought of chowing down on blood sausage, whereas I grew up in Australia and it just seems like a 'scab tube' to me! Besides more extreme examples, most food is an acquired taste, and inspect / insect products would be no different.
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