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For years, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and global thought leaders alike have been championing insects as a sustainable source of high-quality protein (requiring six times less feed than cattle to produce the equivalent amount of protein). However, the perceived “ick factor” of entomophagy (insect eating) still gives some Western consumers pause.

According to Julie Lesnik, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Wayne State University in Detroit, people in northern regions tend to eschew bugs, in part, because of the diets of their ancient ancestors. Unlike Mexico, and Central and South America, where insects are plentiful and the practice of eating them is well-established, the northern part of North America was covered in ice tens of thousands of years ago. The colder climates didn’t allow for the same exposure.

“When you read books by (European) travellers in the 1700s or 1800s, if they went to Africa or somewhere like Mexico where they saw people eating insects, it would be like, ‘Their hunger’s so great, their access to meat so scarce that they resorted, horrifically, to eating insects.’ That wasn’t the case whatsoever. They were doing it because it was healthy and good for their environment,” Jarrod says, referencing Lesnik’s findings.

Photo by Stewart Stick

This “othering” mentality persists in the West today. Globally, however, an estimated two-billion people eat insects as a regular part of their diet. In 2016, the worldwide market for edible insects was valued at nearly $43 million, according to Global Market Insights. It’s expected to gain serious momentum, with more than 40 per cent growth by 2023. There are as many as 2,000 edible insect species around the world – including ants, grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars – and the practice of eating bugs is slowly but steadily catching on in the Western world.