2019 Life Logs, Day 344: Edible Insects
Date as: Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Weather: Periods of Rain; High 61, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
The rain continued today, but it was only spotty and not too much. After yesterday’s buckets of rain, today was a delightful reprieve. And it was also warm. So that helped. But overnight the temp dips below freezing and we might get some early morning snow. I had my monthly Book Club meeting this morning and I spent the afternoon with the Goldpebbles. It was an Early Release Day from school and I had signed the boys up to attend an Edible Insects presentation at the public library.
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Sam couldn’t go as he was home sick with a cold/flu (not sure which) from school today. So neighbor Joey Keefe went with us to the presentation. Most of the kids attending were middle schooler, the perfect age to add the yuck factor to eating insects. There was a presentation about the growing industry of producing insects to be used as animal feed, making flour from dried crickets, and selling dried insects as snacks.
When it came time to do some taste testing of dried grasshoppers and mealworms, the boys jumped right in. It helped that I had promised to take them to the French bakery afterwards for a treat if they tried the dried insects. But they loved doing it and then making a mad dash for the water fountain in the hall to wash down the crunchy snacks. Even Jonah gave the meal worms a try. I was actually more reluctant than the boys, but Ollie brought me a couple of meal worms and I ate them. Crunchy with a salty taste, but the idea of eating mealworms is instinctively repulsive. The positive side is that evidently insect products, especially flour made from crickets, pack double the protein of steak, chicken, or salmon. The insects are farmed and sustainable. But still the idea of eating crickets or mealworms just is not appealing. But at least we broadened our horizons this afternoon. If Chocolate Chirp Cookies and cricket pasta become mainstream, maybe we will be more willing to give them a try.
