Putting insects on the menu

Hesitantly, I reached my jittery hand into the termite mound, coaxed by my field guide to pull out one of the tiny, plump insects. Going against all of my natural instincts, I put the miniscule bug into my mouth and began to chew.

While the termites did not deliver the promised taste of peanut butter, I had to admit that these little creatures did pack a salty punch that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. My apprehension about eating them had absolutely nothing to do with their taste or texture, but everything to do with my preconceived ideas about eating bugs.

It got me thinking. Where have these ideas come from? In a world where we eat birds, mammals and even sea creatures such as prawns – themselves referred to as ‘insects of the sea’ – why does munching on an insect evoke such feelings of revulsion? And, more significantly, with two billion people on our planet happily consuming insects as part of their daily diets, why is this fare not served up more regularly on western plates?

Humans across the planet were once hunter-gatherers, with insects widely featuring on the menu. Studies have