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I have never intentionally cooked or eaten a bug.  Unintentionally, yes, I have.  I’ve got a few good stories about stepping on our insect friends in bare feet, too.  But the growing popularity the TV show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer has got me thinking.  The case for eating insects is nutritionally sound.  They’re a cheap and plentiful source of protein, and some cultures covet certain insects for their particular taste and/or texture.  In Southeast Asia, food vendors on the street sell bagfuls of deep-fried meal worms (larval crickets, I know this because I used to buy them for my lizards R.I.P.) as a popular snack.  In Thailand, red ant eggs are gleefully harvested for soup.  I’ve heard of African cultures pillaging termite mounds for a tasty treat. 

Years ago, I recall seeing something on the tube about the proud bug-eaters of America.  I think it was on that show Real People.  I don’t remember the exact details of the story, but I do remember seeing a great number of people chowing down on grasshoppers, crickets, and some kind of big ant.  It all appeared to take place in a reception hall;  it appeared to be a convention.

Well, I’ve decided to take the opportunity to eat bugs should it present itself.  Anybody else with me?  I’m not going to seek out the bug-eating experience, but if a knowledgeable bug-eater crosses my path, I’m in.  Shimmy and Sesame (my dead lizards) were always pretty darn glad to gulp down the meal worms, so maybe they, Andrew Zimmer, and half the world, are really on to something.  Maybe the rest of us are really missing out!  Maybe in a short while I’ll find myself sprinkling fried crickets on my salad like croutons.