XPost: tor.general, can.general   
   From: wayesha@yahoo.cn   
      
   Many of us here in North America are a little squeamish when it comes to   
   eating insects. The creepy crawly legs. The crunchy shells. The…wiggling.   
      
   Bleargh.   
      
   Lots and lots of people eat insects and think they’re delicious   
   For much the rest of the world, insects are a good source of protein and   
   fat. In fact, according to this article from National Geographic, those   
   of us who find entomophagy icky are in the minority, globally speaking.   
      
   And this isn’t a recent trend. Gourmands in ancient Rome ate specially-   
   raised beetle larvae. The ancient Greeks relished cicadas.   
      
   Insects remain an important traditional food for cultures across Asia,   
   South America and Africa. For example, in Ghana winged termites are   
   fried, roasted or made into bread. In Japan, fly larvae are prepared with   
   soy sauce and sugar. And in Australia, raw or lightly roasted witchetty   
   grubs (actually a collective term for a variety of insect larvae) are   
   still a popular traditional staple.   
      
   A surprisingly healthy choice   
      
   There are good reasons that insects have remained a popular element of   
   many cuisines. For one thing, most are better sources of protein and   
   healthy fat than familiar-to-us beef, pork or chicken. According to   
   National Geographic, hamburger is roughly 18 percent protein and 18   
   percent fat, most of which is saturated. Grasshopper, on the other hand,   
   is 60 percent protein and only six percent fat, most of which is   
   unsaturated. One hundred grams of silkworm larvae contain a full 100   
   percent of the daily recommended allowance of copper, zinc, thiamine and   
   riboflavin.   
      
   Environmentally friendly, too   
      
   Farming insects is also arguably far more environmentally friendly and   
   efficient than conventional meat sources. According to Marcel Dicke, a   
   Dutch entomologist, ten kilograms of feed produces one kilogram of beef,   
   three kilograms of pork and five kilograms of chicken. That same amount   
   of feed produces nine kilograms of locusts. (Take a look at Dicke’s TED   
   talk on eating insects.)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)