Nathan Hall's Wired Kingdom

One of the most pressing environmental issues, in fact the biggest environmental issue continues to be one of the most taboo. It will lead to rapidly increasing global warming, food and water scarcity and the collapse of entire ecosystems. Of course, I’m talking about overpopulation. Religion and fear of an overreaching government are two of the largest factors that stand in the way of sensible population control. I’m not going to go off on a tangent about how we should approach that debate though, instead I’ll just say this, if you’re not prepared to tackle that issue then start learning to eat bugs.

In this blog post from CNN’s Eatocracy eating bugs is exactly what they recommend because,

“In the next 40 years, the world is going to need a 70 percent increase in food production to feed a population that will be billions larger and considerably wealthier than it is today.”

If you think things are scary and crowded now, just wait for food shortage riots. If our population does in fact grow to be billions larger than it is now, there won’t be room for all the cows, chickens and pigs we would need. Yep, our eating habits are going to have to change, dramatically and rapidly.

One sensible approach of course is vegetarianism, but who has the stomach for that? I say it’s high time the Western diet began including the group of animals with the highest biomass on the planet (80% of all the animals on earth are insects). A good place to start? How about the “shrimp of the land” the lovely, allegedly tasty locust?

The locust is such a delicacy that there are even recipes for it on the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website.

Here are a few, please enjoy:

Tinjiya (Tswana recipe): remove the wings and hindlegs of the locusts, and boil in a little water until soft. Add salt, if desired, and a little fat and fry until brown. Serve with cooked, dried mealies (corn).

Sikonyane (Swazi recipe): prepare embers and roast the whole locust on the embers. Remove head, wings, and legs, in other words, only the breast part is eaten. The South Sotho people use locusts especially as food for travellers. The heads and last joint of the hindlegs are broken off and the rest laid on the coals to roast. The roasted locusts are ground on a grinding stone to a fine powder. This powder can be kept for long periods of time and is taken along on a journey. Dried locusts are also prepared for the winter months. The legs, when dried, are especially relished for their pleasant taste.

Cambodia: take several dozen locust adults, preferably females, slit the abdomen lengthwise and stuff a peanut inside. Then lightly grill the locusts in a wok or hot frying pan, adding a little oil and salt to taste. Be careful not to overcook or burn them.

Barbecue (grilled): prepare the embers or charcoal. Place about one dozen locusts on a skewer, stabbing each through the centre of the abdomen. If you only want to eat the abdomen, then you may want to take off the legs or wings either before or after cooking. Several skewers of locusts may be required for each person. Place the skewers above the hot embers and grill while turning continuously to avoid burning the locusts until they become golden brown.