By Hannah Cox, A. Milz, and Ja'Leah Walker
Bugs as food may sound like a crazy idea, but in non-western cultures, it’s actually pretty common! Throughout history, humans have evolved and developed different ways to sustain themselves and survive. In fact, we continue to rely on insects to pollinate plants to provide a wide variety of nutritious fruits, vegetables, seeds, etc. Would you believe that we can also rely on insects as a source of protein? Imagine a world where we ate mealworm burgers instead of eating hamburgers with beef patties, or as an alternative to hotdogs, there were sausages made with crickets. Different insects would line the shelves of the average American grocery store, and every household would own an insect based ingredient in their pantry. What if the consumption of insects was brought mainstream to the United States, Canada and Europe?
People around the world are cooking with insects [1]
Entomophagy, or the intentional consumption of insects, is practiced in many different cultures and regions. Other cultures around the world have been consuming insects for centuries, proving these creepy crawlers to be a vital source of food for a variety of people. According to the University of Minnesota, around 80 percent of the world’s nations consume insects in one form or another. Insects not only have nutritional value, but they are more environmentally friendly and sustainable than other animal-based products. Farming insects produces far less carbon emissions than that of other animals, as well as less land usage. So, what is stopping insects from rolling (or crawling) off the shelves?
The answer may be found in a research article published detailing a cross-cultural study of insect consumption between families in Portugal and Norway. In a study conducted by José Carlos Ribeiro and colleagues for the journal Food Quality and Preference, researchers examined the acceptability of insects of food and feed through an online based survey. The researchers sent out questionnaires to participants asking questions on 9 criteria on a 7 point anchor scale: food choice motives, food neophobia, familiarity and experience with edible insects, perceived acceptance of edible insects and sushi, disgust towards insects, and sociodemographic characteristics. Based on these, the researchers compiled the data into tables, and then compared the data found between the two countries.
Table 3 from Ribeiro et al. (2022). Data representing the acceptance of insects as food in Portugal and Norway [2] (Click on table for higher quality view)
The researchers found that Norwegian consumers had a higher rate of acceptance of insects as food or feed than those from Portugal. These results also showed that individuals could be divided into four levels of acceptance: disgusted, rejector, feed acceptors, and acceptors. These levels of acceptance help us to understand the extent to which certain participants accepted entomophagy, which reveal that the acceptance of eating insects is more complex than the researchers originally thought. Therefore, the researchers gathered that when considering the determinants of acceptance or rejection, participants’ disgust had the largest impact on entomophagy for both Norway and Portugal.
Fig. 1 from Ribeiro et al. (2022). Probability of accepting insects as food based on disgust towards insects [3]
In conclusion, the results from the study show the importance of decreasing levels of disgust towards edible insects. The results also suggest that entomophagy be marketed more broadly to insect consuming enthusiasts. Changes to consumers’ perception of eating insects can be achieved through the promotion of sensory experiences and the popularization of the benefits of entomophagy. This is important because many cultures embrace the practice of eating insects.
Therefore, altering the way in which entomophagy is promoted will enhance the experience for certain cultures, while also gaining popularity in western cultures.
Further Reading:
Kremen, C., & Chaplin-Kramer, R. (2007, June). Insects as providers of ecosystem services: crop pollination and pest control. In Insect conservation biology: proceedings of the royal entomological society’s 23rd symposium (pp. 349-382). Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing. DOI: 10.1079/9781845932541.0349
Ribeiro, J. C., Gonçalves, A. T. S., Moura, A. P., Varela, P., & Cunha, L. M. (2022). Insects as food and feed in Portugal and Norway–cross-cultural comparison of determinants of acceptance. Food Quality and Preference, 102, 104650. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950329322001252
University of Minnesota. (2022, September 8). Let’s just eat the bugs. College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. https://cfans.umn.edu/news/eat-bugs
Media Credits:
[1] Photo by Duncan McHugh/LFS Learning Centre is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
[2] “Table 3” by Ribeiro et al. is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950329322001252#s0160
