The alternative protein arms race now includes locust sausages and flies

For some Western diners, the idea of ​​eating insects is always out of reach. However, in most parts of the world, culinary traditions often include larvae, crickets and other edible creatures as part of normal diets. It is a source of protein, a cultural staple and a nutrient-rich alternative to livestock. As the saying goes, do not hit it until you've tried it.

A team of researchers from the University of Queensland is currently working on substitutions involving a percentage of ingredients from worms, larvae and herbal ingredients, as a partial or total replacement of the products-based of conventional meat. Professor Louwrens Hoffman, a professor of meat sciences (whose title), whose students have previously worked on insect-based additives for sausages and ice creams, recalls that it does not have a problem. is not out of the norm: "Wild chickens do not eat food preparations. They eat insects and larvae. And, although insects are largely foreign to Western cultures, they are a familiar part of the diet for millions of people around the world. "

The work done by the Hoffman team "involves the use of larvae (maggots) of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) as a source of protein for chicken production." Although Hoffman acknowledges that some Western customers are opposed to the mix, unless it is a component of an otherwise animal mixture, he argues that "an overpopulated world is going to have a hard time finding enough protein if people are not willing to open their minds and their stomachs to a much broader notion of food. "

Particularly now, when researchers and companies will embark on the great race to discover different methods of mass production of proteins, which are less dependent on the animal, for a constantly increasing world population. It will be essential for guests to open their minds and palates. We may need to develop our idea of ​​what we are willing to try to reduce the concerns of industrial agriculture.

Maybe it's the truest thing The Lion King Never taught the world: You can find food everywhere with the right attitude.