wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] a. hammagaadji from new york April 10, 2008 - 04:52AM

  Butterflies make me feel queasy, but they do taste like chicken.

  
  
• [2] Joe Adams from Bergen County, New Jersey April 10, 2008 - 06:50AM

  Remember the old joke about finding half a worm in an apple? That actually happened to me about 30 years ago and I am still alive to tell the tale. Actually worms in apples are really insect larvae. As I recall, I was mildly disgusted but I don't remember any taste.

  
  
• [3] francyne from NYC April 10, 2008 - 08:12AM

  When I lived in Durham, NC I went to Bugfest at the museum of science in Raleigh. A part of the festival included edible

  insects. I thought that my palate was broad, but it couldn't handle bugs. I took one taste and spat it into a napkin, unable to swallow, nauseated.

  I suppose that my culture won out over my palate. I've always viewed bugs as something to be exterminated not eaten.

  
  
• [4] Aunt Ita from At work (shhhh) April 10, 2008 - 09:32AM

  Aren't shellfish such as shrimp, lobsters and crayfish little more than underwater insects? Can you cook insects like shellfish? Grasshopper scampi, anyone?

  
  
• [5] Suzanne Iannaccone April 10, 2008 - 10:23AM

  One of my first apartments, a railroad flat on the Grand Concourse, housed numerous cockroaches that would scramble when a light was turned on.

  On one occasion, after taking a bite out of a sandwich, I realized I had consumed 1/2 of a roach that was stuck to the outside bottom slice of bread. I can't remember what it tasted like but the experience was so powerful that to this moment the recollection rekindles a sense of nausea. I also credit that moment with the momentous epiphany that inspired my quest to forever live roach free.Please pass the tofu--

  
  
• [6] dbborroughs April 10, 2008 - 11:00AM

  I have eaten a couple of insects over the years both intentionally and unintentionally. They've always been a bit bitter and for lack of a better word odd. Each time I've tried one I've always thought of how the Biblical prophets ate locusts and honey. Any of the insects would have actually been pretty good had they been dipped in honey.

  Would I eat them again? I don't think so, not something I really cared for. Though to be honest part of the dislike is certainly a cultural thing- we see bugs as dirty.

  
  
• [7] Michael Choi from Northern New Jersey April 10, 2008 - 12:45PM

  My college chorus toured Mexico years ago. We performed in Oaxaca, where apparently local belief had it that if you ate the local delicacy - grasshopper - you would come back to Oaxaca someday. A small bag went around the bus filled with what looked like fish flakes and spices. I sampled it, but tasted nothing but spices. Had the insects been recognizably intact, I doubtless would have passed. (Haven't returned to Mexico yet.)

  
  
• [8] Paulo from Paterson, New Jersey April 10, 2008 - 12:55PM

  I ate a bee by accident once when it landed on a muffin that I happened to be eating at the time.

  
  
• [9] eva April 10, 2008 - 01:08PM

  God Bless you, Leonard. Just when it seems the news can't get any worse, you find a way to make us laugh. This is a joke, right? I mean, you don't really expect us to start eating insects, like some scene out of "Escape from Alcatraz"?

  Seriously, though, I think we should all be aiming to start a vegetarian diet, given the worldwide food shortage. It's the only conscientious thing to do. Or maybe meat/poultry only on one day a week? Despite the American anxiety over carbs, whole-grain carbohydrates are actually very healthy.

  
  
• [10] Albert from Greenwich, CT April 10, 2008 - 01:22PM

  Back in 96 I was eating a doughnut while waiting for a bus to go measure the theater @ El Museo Del Barrio and a bee stung me on my upper lip. Somehow my reflexes caused me to consume the bee with the next bite of the doughnut. I was pretty disgusted, but I got on the bus and continued on to the museum. By the time I got there, my upper lip had swollen to twice it's normal size and I was so disoriented that one of the museum guards had to tell me that the stinger was still imbeded in my lip. I'll have to leave it there. Ultimately a very upsetting experience.

  
  
• [11] Mike from NYC April 10, 2008 - 01:56PM

  Grasshoppers are fried in southern Mexico. They are salty and crunchy, Or maybe crikets as the speaker just mentioned. Instead of relying on eating insects to solve thefood shortage, why not reduce the number of people so that we cn eat what we want. The world produces more food than ever before yet there are food shortages. Why? There are more people alive today than have ever lived. It took over 100,000 years for the population to reach a billion in about 1900. The world reached 3 billion in the early 1960s and 6 billion before 2000. Do we really think the earth can support indefinitely more people? Habitat destruction is eliminating species. Changing weather patterns, possibly resulting from humand activity, are also. We can control the population with birth control and live in peace and prosperity or fight over ever-dwindling resources and reduce the population through war, disease and starvation.

  
  
• [12] xam April 10, 2008 - 01:59PM

  lived in hanoi a few years ago overlooking a public park (lenin park) -- for work pulled many all nighters from home -- here's what I saw

  1. birds hunted by bow and arrow early morning

  2. fish hunted by illegal boaters 230 - 530 am

  3. Bugs: Lots of different insects eaten there as a delicacy, mixed w other foods. One in particular is delicious, big fat green one. No joke.

  
  
• [13] Kerry Trueman from NYC April 10, 2008 - 02:00PM

  After accidentally serving my family some maggot-enriched granola, I went on the defensive and wrote a blog post entitled “Who Needs Meat When You’ve Got Bugs?” in which I quoted a connoisseur of bug-based cuisine who said "Insects can feed the world. Cows and pigs are the S.U.V.'s; bugs are the bicycles."

  Here’s the link if you’d like to read more about the history--and future--of eating bugs:

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-trueman/who-needs-meat-when-youv_b_86288.html

  
  
• [14] peter from bergen county April 10, 2008 - 02:04PM

  I was intrigued with the prospect of feeding people with insects; the lobster reference helped me but, unfortunately it left me with a bad feeling in my stomach as I had to force down my lunch while listening to this discussion, ie, I do not think I am ready for even insects hidden in my hot dogs!

  
  
• [15] Ryan K from Harrisburg, PA April 10, 2008 - 08:09PM

  I'm so torn on this issue. I agree they are an obvious source of cheap and plentiful food. I am curious enough that I would try insects in certain forms like in muffins and stir-fries.

  But then I think about all the times I've seen bug guts and I don't know if I could bring myself up to it.

  
  
• [16] G T from Long Island April 10, 2008 - 11:54PM

  Amen to Mike's 1:56 pm eloquent and concise comment about birth control being an essential element of solutions to many diverse problems.

  
  
• [17] Bob from New Haven CT April 11, 2008 - 10:15AM

  About 30 years ago I went to the original (excellent) Legal Seafoods restaurant in Boston with some high school friends. We were very stoned,laughing, giggling but behaving a grnerally civil manner. I orderd soft shell crab for the first time in my life and was looking forward to this popular "delicacy". As the plate arrived my friend Glen started laughing and announced "Looks like giant squashed cockroach". Oh my god....he was right!!! After that comment I was incapable enjoying the meal. I finally had soft shell crab for a second time about 5 years ago and it was great. That was the only negative side effect that I can recall from smoking pot which I hven't done in about 20 years.