ENTOMOPHAGY: What it's all about

You've never heard this word? You think it sounds funny to you? Well, entomophagy is nothing new in fact. It's something practiced since the dawn of time: eating bugs. If that term can be used to speak of human beings, it is much more common to refer to the diet of so-called entomophages animals, especially insects that eat other insects.

Where does it come from?

Eating bugs is not so strange as you might thinj. In ancient Greece, they already had two words fot that, "entomos" (incised, notched) and entoma which simply means "insect". Add to it the prefix phàgos, meaning "eater", and you get  "entomophagy". Which translate as "eater of bugs".

If you look closely at its roots, eating bugs should only mean the consumption of insects but as an extension, it also includes scorpions, spiders and millipedes which are not insects but arthropods.

Why should we eat bugs?

Eating edible bugs is good for you! Bugs are a nutrient-rich food sourc with lots of high quality proteins, iron, calcium, vitamins and minerals ... 

Breeding bugs is good for our environment too as it is far less harmful to farm them than it is to do so with traditionnal livestock. For example, insects reject little to no greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as well as consume very little water.

Even if edible bugs are still a bit costly in Europe, UN projections tells us another story. When a whole sector specialized in producing edible bugs will emerge in Europe and when insects will become a far cheaper alternative than traditional meat while providing almost as much protein.

Grab some bugs and you are assured to have an amazing culinary experience. Did you even know crickets had a subtle nutty flavor? If you feel adventurous, it's even possible to buy bugs measuring up to 10cm (3,9 inch) such as giant water bugs!