Like many people in his town in the southern Mexico highlands, Gerardo Carrillo looks forward to harvest time in August. That's when he can pick greenish caterpillars off the trees and boil them with a little lime.
As Mexico's centuries-old tradition of eating bugs becomes more lucrative — maguey worms and ant eggs are showing up as exotic fare at expensive restaurants — researchers are trying to convince poor villages to cash in on these pests as a means of income.
With a protein content as much as twice that of beef, bugs could also become a welcome diet supplement among the estimated 20 million extremely poor Mexicans who live on incomes of $1 per day or less.
While the spicy, leggy bodies of locusts; the crusty, french-fried caterpillars; or bursting, buttery ant eggs may be an acquired taste, insect cuisine is winning converts in a variety of ways.
"The kids love them," Garcia Oviedo said of the clear candy with the bug inside. "They tend to eat the candy to get at the bug to see if it's real. Once they find out it's real, they keep on eating anyway."
Seventeen-year-old student Ariel Elurdoy, waiting for a 65-cent taco at a Mexico City street stand, said he would happily try bug food. He, like many Mexicans, has eaten grasshoppers and would be willing to try the rest of the insect and worm kingdom.
Researchers note that in Aztec times, pest control was accomplished largely by eating bugs rather than spraying them.
And in some villages in southern Mexico, bug "contamination" is hardly accidental: A few ground-up insects are added to hot chile salsa in villages as a nutritional boost.
"It's just like eating a regular hot dog," he says, "but with five or six times the nutritional value."
More effective way to control bugs....
by EvilForce 15 Replies latest social current
-
EvilForce
-
kls
Geeze Evil ,ahhh thanks for the info but really i will pass but you go right ahead and indulge Now where is my Raid can
-
Ellie
Sounds delicious, I've always envied those contestants on 'I'm A Celebrity' when they get to eat the wichity grubs.
-
sonnyboy
I can' barely watch people eating bugs on Fear Factor, so I'll pass.
-
Elsewhere
Hell, I'd try it!
-
-
Elsewhere
Hmmm... how about I stick one of those on a stick and cook it over an open fire while I sip on a beer.
-
-
Elsewhere
The wind in your hair and the bugs in your teeth!
-
EvilForce
Yeah, kinda gross. I'll stick to being a vegetarian thanks. I don't like crunchy meat. Blech!
But I thought I'd change up my thread starting. Too many political threads....not enough fun ones.
