Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] Eat insects for fun, not to help the environment

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] Eat insects for fun, not to help the environment
  • Date: Wed, 27 May 2015 17:13:46 -0400

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Joel Gruver <jgruv@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 27, 2015 at 3:46 PM
Subject: [SANET-MG] Eat insects for fun, not to help the environment
To: SANET-MG@lists.ifas.ufl.edu


Hello folks,

The May 27 issue of Nature contains a column that may be of interest:

http://www.nature.com/news/eat-insects-for-fun-not-to-help-the-environment-1.17630

As the world searches for a more sustainable future for its growing
population, there is increasing interest in getting more people to eat
insects. Earlier this month, former United Nations secretary-general
Kofi Annan told The Guardian newspaper that “eating insects is
good for the environment and balanced diets”. This backed the view of a
widely cited 2010 report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
that stressed insects' “exceptional nutritional benefits” and “fewer
negative environmental impacts” when compared with “many mainstream
foods” (see go.nature.com/6ln9dw).

So
far, there is little sign that these messages are being heeded. Turning
Westerners into insectivores has joined the long list of challenges
that require behaviour change. As such, it holds broader lessons for
other attempts to convert people to more sustainable lifestyles, and is a
useful case study.


Many people already eat
insects. There is evidence that insects have been a continuous part of
our diet since the early hominins, and they are still eaten widely in
south and east Asia, Africa, and South and Central America. (Although
the practice is declining in some places as people switch to
'aspirational' Western lifestyles.)


Western
policy-makers and the media often send messages that lean heavily on
this argument: they do it, so why can't we? These messages use rational
reasons to try to overturn the presumed major psychological objection to
eating insects — disgust. This strategy assumes that the revulsion
people feel when presented with, say, house-fly pupae (protein content
62%!), is a cognitive process that can be addressed through education.


There
is little evidence that this strategy is working. Worse, appealing to
reason and responsibility reinforces a dilemma in the minds of
consumers: many know that they can, in principle, eat insects, and
perhaps that they should, but very few are willing to do so.


What
if it is not disgust that stops people eating insects? Disgust is
linked to contamination and fear of disease. Insects are considered
disgusting to eat, the theory says, because insects themselves eat
'dirty' foods. Yet many Westerners are happy to consume lobster, which
scavenge from the sea floor, and pigs, which eat slops. Many insects,
including some grasshoppers and ants, have the same diet as sheep.

*snip*

Do any of you regularly eat insects :)?

Joel


**********************************************************
To unsubscribe from SANET-MG:
1- Visit http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html to unsubscribe or;
2- Send a message to <listserv@sare.org> from the address subscribed to the
list. Type "unsubscribe sanet-mg" in the body of the message.

Visit the SANET-MG archives at: http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html
.
Questions? Visit http://www.sare.org/about/sanetFAQ.htm.
For more information on grants and other resources available through the
SARE program, please visit http://www.sare.org.

This listserv is hosted with support from the Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education (SARE) program, which is funded by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture- National Institute of Food and Agriculture
(USDA-NIFA). Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations
expressed within do not necessarily reflect the view of the SARE program or
the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider
and employer.



--
Lawrence F. London
lfljvenaura@gmail.com
Ello: @ecoponderosa <https://ello.co/ecoponderosa>
https://sites.google.com/site/avantgeared/
https://sites.google.com/site/venaurafarm/



  • [permaculture] Fwd: [SANET-MG] Eat insects for fun, not to help the environment, Lawrence London, 05/27/2015

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page