The Truth About Eating Insects

Kiarra and her crew were given the opportunity to taste some edible bugs at the Montreal Insectarium’s Insect Tastings Menu. Unlike the cricket protein bars they are already accustomed to eating, the dishes in this tasting menu had the bugs displayed in their full-bodied glory. It didn’t take long for Seamus, Kiarra’s 4 year old brother, to proclaim that he likes bugs but that he doesn’t like to eat them. Seamus did end up eating most of the cricket burger not realizing it was made of crickets. He also eventually ate the ice cream covered in chocolate sauce sprinkled with termites. It was harder for him to ignore the fact he was eating insects given you could clearly see the termites mixed in the chocolate. Given the opportunity to eat ice cream, however, he just couldn’t pass it up - bugs or no bugs.

In much the same fashion, Kiarra and Ronan had no problems devouring the rice crispy treat containing whole crickets. They normally don’t eat rice crispy treats so it was a special treat for them. First time eating a rice crispy, first time eating a full-bodied cricket...I’m not sure what they were more excited about. The crickets were covered in marshmallow sugary-goodness. It only made sense that they would eat them all up.

Overall, it was a good experience for the family to have a tasting of recipes made with edible bugs. Ideally, I would have preferred more insect dishes without all the added wheat and sugar. I felt that the nutritional content of the insects may have been surpassed by the addition of not so healthy ingredients in some of the dishes. Having been exposed to advocates of entomophagy who emphasize the nutritional value of eating edible insects, I have found that most produce recipes which also fit our family’s way of eating - no wheat, no artificial preservatives, and no added sugar.

Eating insects for its health value begs the same notion surrounding gluten-free products in the market. Just because something is labelled gluten-free doesn’t mean it’s healthier for you.The same applies when it comes to eating bugs.

To be fair, the Insectarium doesn’t purport it is healthier to eat insects in their messaging. Instead, they encourage families to try something new in order to work, in theory, towards a more sustainable future. Their message, by all means, isn’t any less significant. Perhaps covering insects in dopamine-inducing ingredients is a surefire way to get people on board with insect eating. It’s just unfortunate that a society still disgusted at the thought of eating insects does not hesitate when it comes to eating the chemically-laden junk found in candy aisles.

So if we need to dress up insects with sugary ingredients to help open society’s minds, then I say do it. We can only hope for more entomophagy enthusiasts such as Montreal’s Insectarium to push us towards a more sustainable future, and if we have to do it one baby step at a time so be it. Let’s keep moving to better ourselves. Our fight with sugar and the “powers that be” (aka invested sugar industries) will come soon enough.

All or a portion of this product or service was sponsored or provided at a reduced cost in exchange for a review. All opinions expressed in this post are our own - no pretenses here!

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