In the universe of the edible

Migratory locusts as food.

— Photo by Wilhelm Thomas Fiege

Still Scary to some. See: maineoysterbook.com

From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.’’

-- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, poet and Anglican cleric

My friend Dr. Ed Iannuccilli’s recent funny column about postage stamps and insects (what a combo!) reminded me of how food fashions develop after initial revulsion. The arrival of the 17-year cicadas has  restarted a modest American conversation about eating insects, which they do in parts of the Developing World. Cicadas, locusts and some other insects are edible and apparently healthy eating – high in protein, minerals and vitamins. And the supply seems bottomless….

Insects are said to taste like nuts or popcorn. Fire up the grill!

The idea of crunching into them revolts many. But why should it be more revolting than consuming our fellow mammals, who are a lot more sentient than bugs? For some reason this reminds me  of being served whale meat when I was around 10 in a Scandinavian restaurant in Boston called Ola. It was oily and fishy. Back then, I thought of whales as a sort of glorified big fish. Shortly thereafter, I became very aware that they were highly intelligent and social and mammals like us.

Think of how gross certain things might appear as food, such as  lobsters, eggs and shellfish. Nasty aesthetics! But we gobble them up.  And there are mammal organs that, for example, the French and Asians enthusiastically consume that Americans wouldn’t touch. Try some brains and intestines? Kidneys? There are a lot of bugs out there to harvest, which would be better for us and the world than eating ever more mammals and birds.

Oh yes, and snake meat can be tasty, too. The old Massachusetts grocery company S.S. Pierce used to sell it in cans.  And alligator is delicious and of course tastes like chicken….

To read Dr. Iannuccilli’s column, please hit this link.