On Wednesday we told you about how the disinfo outlet Daily Caller was fear mongering about climate lockdowns, based on the absolute horror of Germany not heating its public pools and Spain requiring businesses to cool it on the A/C.
Today we're continuing that theme of cry baby conservatives fear mongering, but this time about something that does seem a little more sympathetic: eating bugs.
While at first it's not the most appetizing idea for white Western palettes, there are plenty of reasons for people to shift from killing and eating large (semi-)intelligent mammals for protein to instead harvesting insects. Cows require tons of food and water (literally) to make just pounds of beef, pigs are just as smart, if not smarter, than our canine companions, and eating eggs is basically consuming a chicken’s period — to provide just a few examples of how easy it would be to argue against staples of the American diet. (That I still eat anyway!)
Apparently that's all normal and cool and totally acceptable to these guys, who would otherwise take a toxicly masculine pride in being Big Strong Fierce Manly Men Who Aren't Scared Of Anything. But it seems there's nothing more utterly terrifying than the idea of chowing down on crunchy grasshoppers or beetles.
Michael Shellenberger, for example, recently did one of his twitter threads about it, and it's hard not to read it in the voice of a squeamish man-child who hasn't come to terms with the trauma of eating broccoli that one time.
But as one commenter pointed out, unless you're on a very strict diet forgoing anything dyed red, you already eat plenty of bugs, probably every day. As an old 2013 Scientific American piece explained, processed food, along with fruits and vegetables, are allowed by the FDA to contain bug parts. So if you buy your food (or coffee) at a store, you're eating bugs. And if you're eating processed foods, then you're almost certainly eating all sorts of things worse for you and grosser than the bugs that are in there, too, intentionally or not. Like the secretions of a beaver's anal gland in your vanilla ice cream. Sorry not sorry!
And, of course, the aversion to eating bugs is largely a spoiled white Westerner thing, as a different SciAm piece explained:
Escamoles, also known as insect caviar, is a dish of ant eggs that are either fried in butter with spices or boiled then served along with tortillas. The eggs come from the gigantic Liometopum ant, which scientifically speaking, is one big ass ant. There’s also the option of simply trying an ant with a big ass. A specialty in Colombia is known for its sizeable derriere. Hormigas culonas, meaning “big ass ants” have serious junk in the trunk along with some protein but not much saturated fat, making them a good snack option.
Speaking from experience, we once tried some cricket tacos, and they were tasty! It was the crunchy texture of popcorn, but with a more meaty flavor. Good stuff!
We haven't since started chowing down on any big-ass bugs on the sidewalk, but we will still take some pride in not being whiny babymen who are afraid of a little bug, either.
