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Several years ago, I lived very close to the University and there were several Desi stores nearby. So I would shop in them and try out my Indian cookbook all th
by NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
Several years ago, I lived very close to the University and there were several Desi stores nearby. So I would shop in them and try out my Indian cookbook all the time, it was great. They had the best fragrant spices and the really good yogurt drinks.
Once I purchased a big sack of basmati rice. When I opened it at home, all the larvae came worming their way out. I mean there was a lot of bugs in this rice. And I knew this store tended to keep stuff on their shelves years beyond the expiration dates. So I took the sack of rice back to the store.
The kind proprietor told me it was a nothingburger and the bugs wouldn't hurt me. I said ugh. He said just to pick the bugs out. I said there's a lot of bugs. He insisted this is normal and no big deal. I think I finally managed to make the return. And I really didn't feel like shopping there again.
Growing up, my dad would say hilarious things, like "mmm, more protein" and lick his lips when he saw a bug on our food. Or, he would see a non-venomous spider in the house and say "he won't eat much." But I managed to develop a rather neurotic fear of pests. I adored beneficial insects when I was a child; I memorized all their Latin scentific names, and I purchased ladybugs and mantids at the nursery and I released them all into the garden. I would build ant farms, fascinated with their tunneling and behaviors. I used to catch butterflies just because they were beautiful. But show me a cockroach or a bedbug in my home, and I will go into a hissy fit. I don't feel like that's abnormal.
- luminen 3y agoI looked too closely into a bag of frozen spinach I had been using for smoothies and discovered it was about 10% small green caterpillars... I threw it out and never bought it again. Morally, could I tell you why, like the author of this post tries to do? Absolutely not. I eat birds and mammals. I had a decade-long stint of vegetarianism and often thought about my moral responsibility as a conscious creature towards the other creatures on this Earth. But tossing the insects wasn't even a choice, and in retrospect, I don't think I could convince myself to eat them (even if the macros are good.) I wonder how much of this aversion is learned/cultural, and if future generations will laugh at how squeamish we are today.
- Shaanie 3y agoIt's probably mostly learned behavior; many westerners have the same reaction to eating things like chicken heart or fish eyes, which other cultures eat without hesitation. That being said, usually insects being in your food is probably a bad sign (e.g. maggots in rotting meat), so there could be some innate skepticism perhaps?
- ImAnAmateur 3y agoDon't forget that it was unexpected and not identified as a specific species.
- bigger_inside 3y agowhich also brings back the old insight that harvesting greens kills a lot more animals than producing steak does. Though I guess with symbiotic species living inside organisms, that may become debatable? In any case, there is no food consumption without death involved. Though ultimately, that's not even the point. The larger point is that individual consumer choice does not actually shift the food industry structure, which, again, is neatly exemplified by this entire debate that kicked off these threads: humans don't -choose- bugs. This is a system change. Though of course the change involves better mass production capability and higher rates of profit on the industry side, not "care for nature". Industry doesn't care for anything but profit.
- pantojax45 3y ago> harvesting greens kills a lot more animals than producing steak does How is this possible? Cows must feed and they eat plants (inefficiently too)
- worstestes 3y agoI find this a bit dubious, particularly that a large part of the agricultural industry is dedicated to _feed_ for livestock.
- 3y ago