I could never intentionally make insects a part of my diet – I have hemochromatosis and the iron content of many of them is far too high for me. However this same high iron content, as well as a number of other nutritional benefits, makes insects an very beneficial part of many people’s diets indeed – as many as two billion of them by some estimates.
For those who would be interested in learning more about entomophagy (that’s the proper term for the eating of insects as well as a truly cracking crossword puzzle word), Reaktion Books and University of Chicago Press have recently published Prof. Gina Louise Hunter‘s Edible Insects; A Global History.
Presenting a lively overview of the collection, preparation, consumption, and preservation of beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, and grubs (to mention only a few) as it practiced around the world, Dr. Hunter’s book is a combination of a culinary eye-opener with a more serious explanation of how insects may provide a sustainable and healthy source of food for a number of presently under-nourished societies around the world.
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