The average coffee drinking American unknowingly consumes around 243,209 bug
fragments per year. The non-coffee drinking American consumes about 107,129 fragments (Thomson). How do you feel about that? Although some might argue that this fact is gross and bugs are weird to eat, humans should eat them because bugs are nutritious, they can help solve world hunger, and bugs are beneficial to the environment.
First and foremost, bugs provide many different types of critical nutrients you need in your daily food intake. Insects are exceptionally rich in protein. A study conducted by Bednarova in 2013 shows that Hymenopterans (ex. ants, wasps, and bees) range from thirteen to seventy-seven percent protein when dried (Bednarova). This proves that insects contain much protein and are a very good source to get it from. Not only are they rich in protein, but bugs are also high in fiber, too. Research also shows that an African migratory locust in the nymph stage is about twenty-seven percent fiber (Kourimska). This illustrates that these locusts contain a pretty good amount of fiber. Another thing bugs have inside their tiny bodies are vitamins. Vitamin E was found in red palm weevil larvae, and ant eggs have been found to serve as a good source of vitamins A, D, and E (Melo-Ruiz, 2). However, some insects do not contain any or enough vitamins A, or C (Kourimska). This clarifies that certain bugs can be a good source of specific vitamins in your daily diet. All in all, different insect types can provide different health benefits.
Secondly, bugs can help reduce the number of starving people in the world. More than
two million people in the world already eat bugs on a daily basis, mainly in the Eastern hemisphere. In China, people eat about 178 species of bugs per day (Gardner). This shows that a lot of people, particularly just in China, do eat many different bugs. In most cases, insects are much cheaper than livestock or other animal products you might purchase. The Food and Agriculture Organization has predicted that by 2050, cattle will be so rare and expensive that no one will be able to pay for it anymore (Kolb). This explains that livestock will be harder to get and less affordable if we keep up the rate we consume it today.
Last but not least, bugs benefit the environment in many different ways. One way insects help the environment is that they require much less feed than most other animals. Crickets use up one quarter as much feed per pound of harvested crickets as per pound of larger livestock such as cattle (Whitford). This confirms that crickets and other insects do indeed use less feed. Livestock are also responsible for producing a dangerous level of greenhouse gas emissions, whereas bugs produce much less. For example, insects produce eight to ten times less ammonia than pigs and eighty times less methane than cattle (Kolb). This proves that bugs create fewer greenhouse gases than other animals. These insects can also be used to feed livestock, helping fewer greenhouse gases be released in our atmosphere, less land used for producing crops for the feed, and less water being consumed as well.
Along that line, even though many people believe that most of the bugs in the world are
harmful, only five thousand of the one million known insect species are considered harmful to humans, livestock, or crops (Van Lenteren). This reveals that bugs are not as bad as some people make them out to be. One of these “bad” or “gross” bugs, known as dung beetles, can provide many environmental benefits as well. One benefit is that these beetles can colonize a dung heap within twenty-four hours. If the dung were to remain on the surface of the earth, eighty percent of the nitrogen inside of it could be lost and spread in the atmosphere (van Huis). This points out that it is important for the dung beetles to be there because carbon and minerals can be returned back into Earths’ surface and used to help plants grow. These are just some of the reasons how insects benefit the environment.
In conclusion, there are many different reasons why people should consume bugs. Not
only could entomophagy solve world hunger, it is also nutritious and beneficial to our health and environment alike. Plus, you may never know if eating bugs may just be your new cup of tea!
Works Cited
Bednarova, Martina. “Edible Insects - Species Suitable for Entomophagy under Condition of
Czech Republic.” ResearchGate, 19 Feb. 2013, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Martina_Bednarova/publication
Gardner, Amy. “The Ultimate Edible Insect Travel Guide - China.” Crickster, 1 July 2019,
Kolb, Benjamin. “Eating Insects 'Could Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions'”, SciDevNet, 17 Jan. 2011,
Kouřimská, Lenka, and Anna Adámková. “Nutritional and Sensory Quality of Edible
Insects.” NFS Journal, Elsevier, 16 July 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352364616300013#bb0195
Melo-Ruiz, Virginia E, et al. “Assessment of Nutrients of Escamoles Ant Eggs Limotepum
Apiculatum M. by Spectroscopy Methods.” ResearchGate, 25 Dec. 2013, www.researchgate.net/publication/299612964_Assessment_of_Nutrients_of_Escamoles_Ant_Eggs_Limotepum_apiculatum_M_by_Spectroscopy_Methods
Thomson, Julie R. “This Is How Many Insects You Can Consume A Year When You Drink
Coffee.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 20 June 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/insect-fragments-food_n_5947ed77e4b06bb7d274d955
van Huis, Arnold, et al. “Edible Insects Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security.” FAO,
FAO Forestry Paper, 2013, www.fao.org/3/i3253e/i3253e.pdf
van Lenteren, J.C. “Ecosystem Services to Biological Control of Pests: Why Are They
Ignored?” 2006, nev.nl/pages/publicaties/proceedings/nummers/17/103-111.pdf
Whitford, Ben. “Why Eating Insects Is Good for the Environment.” The Ecologist, 17 Nov.
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