About ten years ago, insects were constantly being hyped as the future of food. Headlines proclaimed that, within the decade, everyone would be eating bugs as part of their daily diet—and saving the planet in the process. But while the buzz on edible insects hasn’t completely turned to crickets, the ento-revolution hasn't proceeded exactly as planned. In the Western world, insects are not yet what's for dinner, and, even in parts of the world where bugs are a traditional and treasured part of the cuisine, their consumption is on the decline. So what's the deal? Can edible insects really help solve climate change and world hunger? And, if so, what's stopping us from jumping on the bug bandwagon? Listen in this episode as we debunk insect conspiracy theories and sexist archaeology, savor tangy ants and a cicada bonanza, and visit Madagascar to tell the heart-warming tale of how a bacon-flavored bug is helping feed villagers, while saving an adorable primate.

Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

Insect fan club president Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is professor of conservation biology at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, as well as the author of the delightful book, Extraordinary Insects: The Fabulous, Indispensable Creatures Who Run Our World.

Mackenzie Wade

Mackenzie Wade is a PhD student of anthropology at the University of California-Santa Barbara, where she studies the cultural perceptions of edible insects.

Left, a salad made with black ant, agave worm, beet, potato, quail egg, and bee pollen; right, crostini with black ants and crickets. (Photos by Brooklyn Bugs)

Left, scorpion chili crisp with cucumbers and scallions on a wonton; right, palm weevils that Joseph Yoon ate in Ecuador, cooked wrapped in a palm leaf over hot coals. (Photos by Brooklyn Bugs)

Joseph Yoon

Edible insect ambassador Joseph Yoon is a chef and the founder of Brooklyn Bugs, a group spreading appreciation and awareness of the potential of edible insects.

Arnold van Huis

Arnold van Huis is an emeritus professor at Wageningen University and the co-author of Edible Insects: Future prospects for food and feed security, the 2013 FAO report that spurred worldwide attention on insects as a food source.

Left, sakondry, a beloved edible insect in Madagascar known as the "bacon bug"; right, cooked sakondry ready to be eaten. (Photos by Cortni Borgerson)

Cortni Borgerson

Anthropologist and conservation biologist Cortni Borgerson is an associate professor at Montclair University and the co-lead of a project encouraging people in Madagascar to farm sakondry, also known as "the bacon bug," as a way to reduce lemur hunting. You can read more about this awesome project in National Geographic and bioGraphic, and you can support it with a tax-deductible donation online here.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics

This episode of Gastropod was supported by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics. Check out the other books, movies, shows, podcasts, and more that they support here.

Transcript

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