LET’S EAT BUGS

Stay Weird, Eat Local Spotlights Robert Nathan Allen

Robert Nathan Allen is a good speaker, energetic and enthusiastic, and laughter comes easily to him. This is fortunate, because he has a tough message. He wants us to eat bugs.

The planet is already facing crippling food and water shortages.  The world population is growing fast and we need cheap and plentiful sources of protein and Allen thinks entomophagy — the consumption of insects — may be part of the answer.

He’s got facts on his side.  Farming edible insects is safe, cheap, sustainable and environmentally sound.  Nearly 80 percent of the world incorporates insects into their diet already, even if eating bugs has never really caught on in the United States.  Here, finding insects in your food could get somebody fired.

After speaking with Allen about the economic and ecological benefits of eating bugs, I decided to ask the really important question:  How do they taste? I mean, it’s easy to say that by 2050, we’ll all be eating bugs, but can we, as food-obsessed Americans, really do this?

I forced the MegaPhone team to sit down with a bowl of dry roasted crickets to find out:

Turns out, if prepared correctly, insects taste pretty good.  But don’t take my word for it.  Restaurants all over the country (and world) are putting insects on the menu. Eating bugs has never been easier!

Robert Nathan Allen provided the crickets for us to eat, thanks to Aspire Food Group.  For more information on entomophagy, please check out the nonprofit organization he founded, Little Herds.