Southeast Asia Files: Bugs

They were crispy, they were crunchy, they were fried, they were definitely undisguised in any way, and yes–I liked them. I recently partook of these bugs:

while at a locals’ food market in northern Thailand, and while they weren’t the best thing I’ve ever eaten they were far from the worst. They made for a nice light snack and I wouldn’t turn them down if offered them again.

It seems to me that if bugs are so high in protein and so plentiful and presumably easy to acquire that we should be eating more of them, as a people. This would be a hard sell to the Western world, I realize, what with our social conditioning to view bugs as dirty and disgusting, but grinding them up into hamburger patties doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. It would disguise their appearance and would be a cheap, protein-rich, earth-conscious alternative to land- and resource-wasting beef. Just a thought. In the meantime, they can be found in the local markets of Southeast Asia, and elsewhere.