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TonyRubbles t1_iqn75se wrote

I can only see this working in the US market if it has a name completely separated from bugs and is in the form of a powdered protein or snuck into existing foods. The minute someone finds a cricket leg in their food it's all over the news.

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Druidicgoth t1_iqnct16 wrote

We quite successfully marketed sea insects as prawns so it does work

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TonyRubbles t1_iqnlpra wrote

Haha that is true, lobster wasn't always seen as a fancy meal either. Wonder how long till we see hissing cockroaches as the delicacy they are.

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defiant_turtle1 t1_iqntqi5 wrote

I personally know 3 people who have hissing cockroaches as pets lol

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TonyRubbles t1_iqnuidg wrote

Fear Factor traumatized me and I'm sure many others with those big bastards. Do they bring them out and try to get everyone to hold them while laughing at all the reactions?

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defiant_turtle1 t1_iqnygr0 wrote

Actually no as far as I know. One person I've never been to her house, but she doesn't seem like she would. She did previously have an educational program about all the bugs and reptiles she has so maybe, but I doubt it.

Another breeds and sells them and will bring them out to show people along with other pet insects, but usually people schedule with her in advance to see them.

The third person is my mom who has been traumatized by people doing what you've described but with snakes, so she would never pressure anyone to hold them if they didn't want to. She does usually ask, though. Usually the answer is no and then they focus on the dogs (or other pets, but usually the dogs) she has instead.

I know that an overwhelmingly majority of people in my life are quite odd to say the least, so I have no idea if this matches typical behavior among hissing cockroach owners is in this area.

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defiant_turtle1 t1_iqntjiv wrote

I don't know, a bunch of kids in my class loved it when I brought in chocolate covered crickets for my 5th grade elementary school party. There were a few kids who were grossed out, but one kid ate all the unwanted ones. This was back in 2010, but I'm sure if it were marketed to kids there could be a nice profit (of course there are ethical concerns about marketing to kids, but don't need to get into that here).

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TonyRubbles t1_iqntvwg wrote

If it's marketed towards kids as healthy snacks and the taste is great I could see it creeping into households, or schools, very fast.

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Eran_Mintor t1_iqnfrzl wrote

You can go to Mexico and find crispy crickets being sold at most street vendors/bars. I've even had a salsa made from ground up ants in Oaxaca that was one of the best salsas I've had. And Americans love Mexican culture.

People are grossed out by the notion but it's a sustainable, healthy, and smart alternative to get proteins that you have a difficult time finding in plants. The human species is not meant to survive solely off a vegan diet.

I'd agree it would have to be marketed a certain way but I would be surprised if this doesn't become a thing in the next ten years or so as meat production becomes more expensive and less sustainable..

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TonyRubbles t1_iqnm4fv wrote

I've eaten spicy fried crickets and they taste just like the seasoning and are crunchy like anything fried would be.

America as a whole just needs to be sold(marketed) on the idea before it's widely accepted. Definitely won't be long once companies try to make money off of it.

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illessen t1_iqntwxf wrote

They already do, it’s just a novelty though. I’d love to see the campaign to get critters in your belly though. I’ve had some wild foods, but I tend to draw the line at most bugs.

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TonyRubbles t1_iqnu9p1 wrote

Yeah I've seen candy with bugs in them since the early 90s. Farmer mart type places usually have fried or chocolate covered in some form too.

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illessen t1_iqnulpx wrote

I was once eating chocolate coated coffee beans… one was decidedly NOT a bean and was a lady bug… I’ve stopped eating chocolate coated coffee beans.

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TonyRubbles t1_iqnv39q wrote

Ah fuck I love those too! Devastating betrayal of your palette lol

Had a friend in school eat a ladybug as a dare and he said it tasted awful, he would regularly eat crickets and ants no problem.

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eryc333 t1_iqne5x1 wrote

Bro, research what your whoppers and cans corn are coated with before Halloween

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TonyRubbles t1_iqnljn1 wrote

I don't care one way or another. Most Americans will not be on board at first is all. Yes everyone eats all kinds of stuff where they have no idea what ingredients actually are.

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RosaParkStoleMySeat t1_iqnapz6 wrote

Still think the best route is plant based protein. Investing time and money into more alternatives that wont work on global scale is useless.

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LetsGoGameCrocks t1_iqo6ahx wrote

Isn’t one of the benefits to insects that it DOES work better at scale than plants? Why do you think they won’t?

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RosaParkStoleMySeat t1_iqo8uvr wrote

I think about it from a consumer point. It will be very difficult to convince people from Western nations to eat insect based proteins

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ChiefExecDisfunction t1_iqomket wrote

To be fair, there's far fewer people from "Western" nations than not.

EU + US populations don't add up to a billion.

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LetsGoGameCrocks t1_iqoraal wrote

Don’t think anyone can make a statement like that, it’s entirely subjective to try to guess what social norms will be in the future. Not to mention that refusing to advance science because you’re worried that people will think it’s icky is stupid.

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Mr-Korv t1_iqo1d6e wrote

You have to combine a bunch, though. That requires processing.

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VivaciousVictini t1_iqn5uid wrote

How is this uplifting?

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Deelaxation t1_iqnp1ys wrote

Bugs are significantly easier and less costly to raise, produce significantly more biomass in a much shorter time, and are supposedly a much more nutritious food source than many other meats. So this would be a huge step towards demolishing the cattle industry if people can get past "eww it's bugs"

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VivaciousVictini t1_iqnwt9x wrote

Chief you can never get past peoples psychology, without 1 of 2 reasons, either 1, lie to them so they accidentally delude themselves, or 2, have them be in a desperate enough situation where things like 'mosquito burgers' are perfectly acceptable.

And look I know there are more bugs in our food than most are aware, the cockroach legs in chocolate, the dead wasps in fig newtons, shit like that.

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Deelaxation t1_iqobpe8 wrote

I agree but there are definitely a lot of people already desperate enough for a mosquito burger plus there are a lot of places where bugs aren't weird eat so it'll catch on those places first and then more people will start trying it til eventually it becomes less of a weird thing to eat. Crustaceans are basically big ass water bugs that a lot of people love eating, myself included.

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VivaciousVictini t1_iqoi199 wrote

Yeah, but it's all in the psychology of how someone is raised, we aren't raised being told the crustaceans are giant bugs.

The reality is that, we probably aren't ever gonna have anyone in the US really get into eating bugs in this generation, it would take the next one presuming they're not raised in the exact same fashion to mark a change.

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DNA2020 t1_iqnhz34 wrote

Soylent Green is bugs! It’s bugs!

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triggerhappymidget t1_iqno70q wrote

A local grocery by me used to carry "Chirps" which are chips made from cricket flour. I tried a couple bags. Tasted like a chip. You can get grasshoppers at Mariners games too. They're pretty good.

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605yeeter t1_iqntxdi wrote

Klaus Schwab likes this post

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peacelovearizona t1_iqpl9zb wrote

This isn't uplifting if you're a bug. This isn't uplifting as it's also disgusting.

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FinDefaulted t1_iqq5vg1 wrote

Why? You're just going to end up with the end product anyway just like with meat. I assume you'd find killing, bleeding and pulling out any intestines from a regular animal just as disgusting even though you enjoy the resulting hamburger or sausage, so what's different here?

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neolgreen t1_iqqqjw6 wrote

Those pushing the hardest for this will still be eating steak.

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ChiefExecDisfunction t1_iqomqw8 wrote

Is "globalized overconsumption dystopia reaches the bug-eating stage of running out of resources" really so uplifting?

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JohnnyAK907 t1_iqntkav wrote

I mean since the whole plant protein market didn't pan out (see tantrum-throwing CEO's) why the heck not right?

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BootlegSpecial t1_iqqs2j0 wrote

Around 7yrs ago I was studying/discussing how industrialized nations need to come to terms with insects as a food and macronutrient (protein.) I then bought someone a bag of 25% cricket flour as a random gift. She hid it in a cupboard for a few months, then it quietly disappeared.

Edit: changed a word

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