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The Current

Battle Bug: The Future in a Frying Pan

For some people, insects have been a novelty food for some time but there's an entire new industry ready to infest the food market. Today we bring you into the world of Insect Farming ...crickets, beetles ... tiny livestock with big protein potential and a plan to get past the YUCK factor....
CBC Radio ·
For some people, insects have been a novelty food for some time but there's an entire new industry ready to infest the food market. Today we bring you into the world of Insect Farming ...crickets, beetles ... tiny livestock with big protein potential and a plan to get past the YUCK factor.


A proposal to feed society that would provide a lot of protein and cause less environmental damage. Eating insects.

"Waiter there is a fly in my soup. Do not worry sir. The spider on the bread roll will get him".Comic Spike Milligan

For most people in the West anyway, soup made with insect life is soup that's unfit to eat. But some believe insects and worms are keys to battling world hunger. You may have heard some McGill MBA students just won a million dollars to advance the idea.

And in Europe, some pioneers and entrepreneurs are banking on bugs not only for the hungry... but for those in the West more inclined to fine dining and healthy shopping.

As part of our ongoing Project Money, we bring you Gerry Hadden's documentary, Battle Bug: The Future in a Frying Pan. Gerry is based in Barcelona, Spain.

Have you ever knowingly eaten bugs and did you like them?

Tweet us @thecurrentcbc. Follow us on Facebook. Or e-mail us through our website. Call us toll-free at 1 877 287 7366. And as always if you missed anything on The Current, grab a podcast.

Here are some photos from Gerry Hadden's documentary, Battle Bug. But be warned, these images are not for the squeemish.




Last Word - Carmine Cochineal

Some of you may be unaware you've been eating plenty of bugs for a long time. One of the key ingredients in many red food dyes spent time walking around on six legs. The cochineal bug is a cactus parasite that's provided South Americans with deep red colouring for hundreds of years. It still colours food and shows up in lipstick as well.

Still, many people regard insect ingredients with revulsion. A company that makes a competing red dye from tomatoes hopes to exploit our loathing of insects. And it created the web character of Carmine Cochineal to remind us we're eating parasite parts whenever we chow down on a red velvet cupcake. Carmine Cochineal gets today's Last Word.

 

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