Did you know that there are an estimated 10 quintillion
(10,000,000,000,000,000,000) insects (about 900,000 species) on the planet
according to Smithsonian Information? That seems like a wonderfully massive
untapped source of animal protein that would be valuable for feeding the
world’s growing population.
There are at least 2037 edible species according to
a comprehensive survey of literature performed by Mr. Yde Jongema, taxonomist
at the Department of Entomology of Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
If
we start to look at insects as the “shrimp” of the land (insects, shrimp,
lobsters, and crab are all a part of a group or phylum called arthropods),
maybe we can learn to get over our aversion and start including them as a part
of our diets.
With the huge economic impact from crop losses due to insects,
isn’t it time we turned the tables on them and have them for dinner?
No comments:
Post a Comment