Why not eat insects? by Marcel Dicke

Why not eat insects? by Marcel Dicke

Rating: ****

This video was an interesting and thought-provoking view on how to solve the problem of how to feed the world when the world population is growing exponentially.

This video was very informative on the case of insects. It said that insects are important to the economy. They benefited the US economy by $57 billion dollars US by maintaining crops, eating pests and providing a food chain for our food chains. Everyone eats insects, even without knowing it. In chocolate, the USA allows up to 60 insect components for every 100 grams of chocolate. But with the human population growing rapidly, there are a lot more mouths to feed. In the developed world, each person eats eighty kilograms of meat per year. Now, so why not eat insects. Insects are so distantly related to humans that viruses from humans and insects cannot mutate to form different viruses, unlike with pigs. For every ten kilograms of feed we give to our animals, we could get nine kilograms of meat from insects or one kilogram of meat from a cow. Insects produce less harmful dung towards the environment and their food value is the same as that of the animals we eat regularly. For example, one kilogram of grasshoppers has the same calorie value as ten hot dogs or six BigMacs. Eventually we will have to eat insects because we will run out of land to produce our livestock on. 80% of the world’s population eats insects, so why not North America and Europe? It is a matter of mind set. We are not used to eating insects, but that can be changed. We need insects to survive anyway and with so many of them on Earth, why not eat insects?

This video was very informative for me and I chose it because we have done a lot of assignments that have to do with food over the course of the semester. I have eaten insects before and they were quite tasty. The ideas that Marcel Dicke brings up are very well thought out. It has made me think about how we are going to feed the generations to come when we need the land that we raise livestock on to build homes for others. I learned a lot about what insects do for us and the economy and how much revenue that will bring to the economy. I also learned about how much the world is growing and how much meat is consumed per person per year. This article has inspired me to think more about insects and what they do for us. I also have to consider the fact that insects are very good for my health and can provide me with all the nutrition I need. This would be useful information in a survival situation, so you could catch insects to eat and keep up your strength. This TED talk has changed my opinion about insects and food sources.

Dicke, Marcel. “Why not eat insects?”. TED. July, 2010. 6 January 2015. http://www.ted.com/talks/marcel_dicke_why_not_eat_insects?language=en