Food for thought: Would you ever eat bugs?

They’re high in protein, plentiful throughout the world and provide a satisfying crunch, but would you chow down on a hearty plate of silk worms? That’s what a group of British celebrities did at a recent banquet of bugs held at Oxford’s Museum of Natural History. According to a blog post on the UK’s The Guardian, the Banquet of Insects was held to promote creepy crawlies as a viable food source for the world’s ever growing population.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations began promoting bugs as a sustainable source of nourishment at a 2008 conference in Thailand. There are more than 1,400 edible insects species, says the FAO, and they’re eaten in countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas.

If you’re Canadian, though, it might be hard to get past the gross-out factor of munching on bugs (a practice called entomophagy). But insects are actually quite healthy and some species have just as much or more protein than meat and fish. They’re also an infinitely more sustainable and eco-friendly food source than cows or chickens.

Would you ever give an insect snack a try?

If you need some recipe ideas, check out this video by National Geographic to see how people around the world prepare and eat insects.

Related:
‘ 10 weird fruits and vegetables from around the world
‘ 5 strange-but-true health cures
‘ Diet fads from history