Eat The Bugs - Megathread - 🪱🪳🦗🪲

I think it's high time we create a separate thread just to throw in the unrelenting wave of articles, pushing for people to eat the bugs.

In the last few couple months, we've had articles like these:

More people are eating bugs – but is it ethical to farm insects for food?

Insect farming is growing in popularity as an alternative to traditional livestock and feed production. A scholar evaluates what that means in terms of trillions of insect lives.

theconversation.com

Why Bugs Must Be a Bigger Part of the Human Food Chain

They're fine for snacking, but insect protein has its greatest potential as nutrient rich, climate-friendly livestock feed.

www.bloomberg.com

You WILL eat ze bugs, goy.

 

[Otterly]

Almost no insects have a complete protein profile. They are totally unpalatable to the western mind.
“There's fatty acids as well as omega-3 and omega-6 that you might find in a cricket powder that you wouldn't with whey or a pea powder,”
Hilarious. “But cockroaches compare favourable to sawdust! Why won’t you find that yummy?’
Pass the nutrient paste…

 

[BelUwUga]

Hey Arab world! If you've never had a delicious ham sandwich or a juicy pork chop you could be missing out!

It's funny how cultural norms can only jump the western whypipo barrier. If you try to toss them to the other side you'd be called racist.

I'm not eating the bugs. I realise my current consumption of almonds as a snack that keeps me away from candy is not sustainable. But if they are in the store I am buying them. It's not up to me to keep large scale production of unsustainable goods at bay. Hell, I had to stop buying bags of mini avocados because of the price increase. Thanks Mexican drug cartels.



Well this is the first time I've seen this. Do you go into anaphylactic shock from crabcakes? Well cricket burgers may not be for you. Just wait until the first kid dies from an allergic reaction to bugburgers.



Yeah. No one's going to eat seven cups of almonds and you know that. That many nuts is going to make your colon your worse enemy. And the calories would be through the roof. That many almonds might actually be toxic.

But there's this thing called vitamins. I already take a zinc supplement because it's recommended for lupus.

Beef, shellfish. fortified grains, poultry and beans also contain zinc. You are supposed to have a varied diet. Not cram seven cups of almonds or one cup of crickets in your pie hole and called it nutrition.

I know the article isn't saying it. But they are saying it. Snowpiercer cuisine for everyone. They won't be happy until we are munching on roach blocks and thanking our overlords for the privilege of eating them.

I get if almonds are your preference but if you don't mind something softer with a similar taste have you considered pecans? Nutritionally they are better than almonds. Since the big buyers are overseas and exports have been fucked they probably aren't too expensive anymore. Most importantly these are nice annual trees with plenty of natural domestic habitat that requires no additional irrigation. Plus, have you seen a pecan plantation? Passing through a big one at the right time of year moves your soul. Here's a California almond farm:

Not ugly but not aesthetically pleasing. Nothing but bare dirt underneath. An ugly monoculture. Compare with Pecan plantations:

Don't these pictures make you want to take a comfy seat beneath one with a great book to read?

 

[Male Idiot]

Almost no insects have a complete protein profile. They are totally unpalatable to the western mind.
“There's fatty acids as well as omega-3 and omega-6 that you might find in a cricket powder that you wouldn't with whey or a pea powder,”
Hilarious. “But cockroaches compare favourable to sawdust! Why won’t you find that yummy?’
Pass the nutrient paste…

I would take a tasteless, vat made nutrient paste over the juicyness of a roach popping in your mouth any time. Problem with bugs is that they are too small to be gutted. I don't want to eat their shit.

Praise the Machine.

 

[Toolbox]

you can buy live crickets for like 15 cents each already, and for now it's still a tiny niche industry. if you apply real economics of scale, insects are so much more efficient to produce than real meat, it's not even a serious competition.

"You can buy live crickets for 15 cents each" again, how many crickets is this, at what mass? From my experience this takes into account maybe a few crickets to feed some small lizards for a few days, which isn't even enough for a single meal for one average human adult. The industry truly is not as niche as you believe it is, there are several species of reptile that require live food or it is at least heavily recommended, yet the price still remains at several dollars to even just establish a singular breeding colony tub. This doesn't include maintenance, the work you have to do to clean up after them, etc. Sure they breed quicker but that means they produce quite a lot of waste and generally do not live very long.

Keep in mind this is what I've seen as generally decent cricket care, if you don't want your colony to die in their own filth.

You can argue that at scale this can become more sustainable than perhaps beef, but what is the amount of money that is going to have to be put into that, and who's buying? They simply cannot replace all uses for cows, pigs, and especially chickens.

 

[DumbDude42]

The industry truly is not as niche as you believe it is

compared to real agriculture it is absolutely tiny, vanishingly small, barely a blip on the radar.

You can argue that at scale this can become more sustainable than perhaps beef, but what is the amount of money that is going to have to be put into that, and who's buying?

yes, the complete lack of demand is the reason why it isn't being done at serious scale for now.
if that were to change (which is what all these EAT THE BUGS! articles are trying to achieve) then scale and efficiency of operations would skyrocket, to a point where insect protein sources would eventually beat animal protein sources.

 

[Toolbox]

compared to real agriculture it is absolutely tiny, vanishingly small, barely a blip on the radar.

Though true, if the process is so much more efficient as you say, it would be pretty obvious for even smaller scale production. But there are just so many steps you have to take just to keep these buggers alive. And if disease starts hitting them good luck.

yes, the complete lack of demand is the reason why it isn't being done at serious scale for now.
if that were to change (which is what all these EAT THE BUGS! articles are trying to achieve) then scale and efficiency of operations would skyrocket, to a point where insect protein sources would eventually beat animal protein sources.

Other things to consider: the ecological argument will eat itself. Sure, right now they claim a startlingly small amount of species can be used to replace a wide variety of meat, but as others have stated, these crickets are really not a replacement for those protein sources. Which means more species of insects, with race to the bottom economy of scale methodology being applied to every single one. There will be a lot of bugs that can escape and they won't all be as harmless as the pet food cricket species. I could consider substantial regulation being put into effect, seeing as this has already happened with the USDA and snails/slugs, which is why escargot is not usually possible to produce very easily in the states.

More on the work:
The amount of hands you have to have on deck to regularly clean tubs and replace material, people who would have to do r&d for what has essentially thus far just been mostly diyers and enthusiasts, it would be more expensive than you think especially at first, and I would still argue over time if, as these mouthpieces argue, bugs would be a replacement for every kind of animal food product that is currently factory farmed. The easiest insect to actually start out with is the meal worm, as they are substantially hardier (as an aside, in my own early attempts at cricket keeping, a local darkling species managed to establish itself and survive past them, and I have continued to have much more success keeping those) and at least the common species is less nutritionally useful and even for reptiles is considered a treat food because they are mostly just fat.

 

[DumbDude42]

if the process is so much more efficient as you say, it would be pretty obvious for even smaller scale production.

it is obvious when you compare it to small scale meat production.
like, you could run a cricket farm or mealworm operation at home in your basement, it's reasonably easy. now compare that to all the work and preparation you would have to get done in order to raise pigs or even cows at home - it's straight up impossible for most people. rabbits or chickens are feasible, but you're still looking at a lot of work to do, and significant cost and space requirements.

 

[The handsome tard]

I remember I tried one of these foods a very long time ago as part of a cultural class.

They tasted like garbage and I had to pretend I enjoyed it for the sake of a good grade (and I had to write a fucking essay over how good it was to eat the bug...god I hated my school years).

So I can say that I did taste the bug, its awful but hey, Im not a lizard person like these fuckers are.


I wont eat the bug

I wont live in the pod

I shall destroy and hate the Anti-Christ

I am the based-peror

Weaknesses: NONE

 

[Android raptor]

Dried, maybe lightly saltled/seasoned mealworms would prolly pair ok with nori tbh

 

[s0mbra]

Not only would you be eating bugs, but also all their organs/digestive system and the feces inside them. Since I'm sure they don't rip that shit out of tiny ass bugs like they do shrimp.
Think about how nasty it is when you get a shrimp with a lil shit vein in it.

Also, I used to own reptiles and would keep crickets for them. They were by far the most vile things, and I will NEVER forget that smell they had when they died. I'd rather snort a line of coke off a human corpse than smell that shit again. So the thought of eating that shit makes my stomach flop.

 

[Android raptor]

Not only would you be eating bugs, but also all their organs/digestive system and the feces inside them. Since I'm sure they don't rip that shit out of tiny ass bugs like they do shrimp.
Think about how nasty it is when you get a shrimp with a lil shit vein in it.

Also, I used to own reptiles and would keep crickets for them. They were by far the most vile things, and I will NEVER forget that smell they had when they died. I'd rather snort a line of coke off a human corpse than smell that shit again. So the thought of eating that shit makes my stomach flop.

I give no fucks and happily eat shit vein shrimp and crickets as long as both been cooked properly. Though I agree that crickets suck as feeders, roaches are superior (mealworms and superworms aren't bad either, they just fattening AF compared to roaches and crickets).

Now on the flip side even when I still ate pork I can't say I was too crazy about it, especially since the tapeworm factor.

 

[Ahriman]

I investigated where Meat and Livestock Australia is taking the $28bn red meat industry. It is clear that the industry plan titled “Red Meat 2030” does not tell the full story. Red Meat 2030 is a strategic plan to double the value of the red meat industry without increasing herd numbers or prices, whilst bringing the industry to net zero emissions. This sounds like a fairy-tale and yet the Liberal/Nationals Government is selling this plan to farmers with a straight face.

In answer to my questions on Tuesday Jason Strong, Managing Director of Meat and Livestock Australia made the stunning admission the Red Meat 2030 plan is not a plan but an “ambitious goal” – bureaucrat speak for a political goal not a planning goal. MLA do not have a plan for how to deliver the 100% increase in the value of the red meat market.
Improvements to feed composition, genetics, transport and finishing have led to a 13% increase in weight. Where is the other 87% increase coming from if herd numbers are not increased?

Tuesday’s answers give us a hint of what is really planned. To explain, at the moment marginal farming land produces meat that sells in the cheaper end of the market, mostly through major supermarkets. This allows everyday Australians to buy red meat as a routine part of their diet. Once MLA complete this plan, there will be no more of this reasonably-priced meat. The only red meat produced in Australia will be a premium product to go on the tables of the very wealthy, with most production being exported to wealthy citizens of other countries. That is where the 87% price increase comes from.

Red Meat 2030 is a plan to take red meat off the table of everyday Australians. This is implementing the political goals of the United Nations to reduce red meat consumption to 14g – one mouthful – a day. I spoke about this UN plan in my speech to the Senate recently. A vote for the Liberal, Nationals, Labor or Greens is a vote for taking red meat off the table of everyday Australians through their Red Meat 2030 plan.

Transcript: https://www.malcolmrobertsqld.com.au/mla/

"Sorry mate, beef is too expensive. Try these new pressed roach bars instead!"

 

[Sxmsnxsx Hxbrxd]

Given that the most slaughtered animal on the planet has the same emotional complexities as a dog or cat, and yet disregarded as filth, I would rather just continue to eat vegetable protein byproducts instead of bugs. Having to constantly sustain oneself on the pain and suffering of living creatures who can feel pain is probably going to be the reason we are all going to hell in real time.

 

[Ahriman]

Having to constantly sustain oneself on the pain and suffering of living creatures who can feel pain is probably going to be the reason we are all going to hell in real time.

This is what vegans actually believe

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I would rather just continue to eat vegetable protein byproducts instead of bugs.

What about eggs and dairy?

Also it'd be kind of a dick move to make people omnivorous, then send them to hell just for eating meat.

 

[teriyakiburns]

What about eggs and dairy?

Also it'd be kind of a dick move to make people omnivorous, then send them to hell just for eating meat.

As the great philosopher said, life is pain. We exist at the pinnacle of tens of millions of years of slaughter and blood letting. Every action we take causes death, so to decry the deaths of animals with big, brown eyes while living a lifestyle that requires the mass slaughter of mice, birds, and other small critters in a polluting supply chain that spans the globe, is to display a profound ignorance of how the world functions. How life functions. Unless a vegan is willing to adopt Jainism, they're a hypocrite.

 

[Male Idiot]

What about eggs and dairy?

Also it'd be kind of a dick move to make people omnivorous, then send them to hell just for eating meat.

There is no logical argument to not use dairy or unfertilised eggs. Buy your milk from an animal friendly brand if you got to, there, Dotty the Cow is now safe. But vegans aren't logical at all.

 

[A Sentient Cloud]

The true terror starts when they figure out a way to add corn syrup into them.

"Figure out"? There are already insect-based protein bars that are loaded with sugar.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

TLC did this eight years ago, and judging from this thread, it seems insane to think that people willingly do this “for the greater good”

 

[ToroidalBoat]

vegans

Whatever happened to "vegetarian" where dairy and eggs are good?

Does everyone in Current Year either eat meat or is full "vegan" - no middle ground?