4 ms·

... Are you seriously advocating that people eat insects? I thought that was just a dystopian meme.

barbazoo 3y ago
I just look at the nutritional profile and the conditions under which they are produced and see a good alternative to industrial meat (cow, pig, ...) production.
soco 3y ago
I think you should be aware that the world is much bigger than the US and in many other countries insects are part of their traditional cuisine: "Over 2 billion people are estimated to eat insects on a daily basis." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insects_as_food https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insects_as_food
- matheusmoreira 3y ago
  I'm not american, I'm brazilian. I'm very aware of the fact you mentioned and I think it's disgusting. I work hard because I want to live well in general and that includes not being reduced to eating literal insects. I seriously didn't think I'd have to justify this. Why does everyone single out americans anyway? Do you think the rest of the world is okay with eating insects? No way. We want to eat well too. We want to live well.
  - soco 3y ago
    Reducing the entire world to your standards - including what means "eating well" - is common around here to come from that country. But I was wrong in that assumption. And to your other question: yes I am fine eating insects, as a matter of fact I do and don't feel at all dystopian.
fnordian_slip 3y ago
How come so many Americans are afraid of eating insects? I have often seen this meme, and never understood it. I know that the average American is a bit more squeamish about a lot of things, from nudity to eating raw meat. The former can be explained by the puritan influence, the latter by the food standards which would possibly make things like Mett[0] a bit unsafe. This, however - together with the opposition to walkable cities - I can't wrap my head around. How can eating an insect burger be worse than eating chicken nuggets? [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett
- Turing_Machine 3y ago
  Excuse me, are you implying that it's only "Americans" who don't eat mealworms and cockroaches on a regular basis? I can assure you that they aren't standard restaurant fare in Europe, either. Oh, I see: you saw a chance to bash "Americans", and took it. > How can eating an insect burger be worse than eating chicken nuggets? How many restaurants in your city serve "insect burgers"? Yeah, that's what I thought. Carry on.
  - matheusmoreira 3y ago
    Not just europe! It's quite unheard of here in the developing third world too. In fact, south american countries seem to be somewhat famous for their meat. Brazil is one of the biggest producers and exporters of meat in the world and if it were up to me I'd burn down the whole amazon jungle to make room for more production.
  - fnordian_slip 3y ago
    You read a lot more into my comment than is actually there, which is probably the reason for your rather flippant and response. In Europe, insect meat is still extremely rare, and where it is to be found, it is experimental and expensive. The latter will of course change through economies of scale once they reach a certain stage. However, the public perception of insects as food is very different. I have never or heard seen a sulky "I will not eat ze bugs" comment in my language, the whole"globalists want you to eat bugs" conspiracy is mostly unknown, and would be seen as foolish. I have not said that eating insects is the norm, but many here see it as part of the diet of the future, without that squeamishness that seems to be so prevalent in the US. If I were to respond in the same tone as you, I would imply that you already knew that, but didn't want to let a chance pass to make yourself the victim, as Americans often like to pretend that all Europeans look down on you. However, I actually believe this is just a misunderstanding. I know I probably won't get any information from you, since you now see me as a debate opponent instead of a discussion partner, but I was genuinely interested in the reason for the extreme opposition to insect food in the US. Maybe since English is my second language, which I learned in part by reading a lot of rather old books, my grammar and word choices are hindering me in making myself clear.

I just look at the nutritional profile and the conditions under which they are produced and see a good alternative to industrial meat (cow, pig, ...) production.

soco 3y ago

I think you should be aware that the world is much bigger than the US and in many other countries insects are part of their traditional cuisine: "Over 2 billion people are estimated to eat insects on a daily basis." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insects_as_food https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insects_as_food

matheusmoreira 3y ago
I'm not american, I'm brazilian. I'm very aware of the fact you mentioned and I think it's disgusting. I work hard because I want to live well in general and that includes not being reduced to eating literal insects. I seriously didn't think I'd have to justify this. Why does everyone single out americans anyway? Do you think the rest of the world is okay with eating insects? No way. We want to eat well too. We want to live well.
- soco 3y ago
  Reducing the entire world to your standards - including what means "eating well" - is common around here to come from that country. But I was wrong in that assumption. And to your other question: yes I am fine eating insects, as a matter of fact I do and don't feel at all dystopian.

fnordian_slip 3y ago

How come so many Americans are afraid of eating insects? I have often seen this meme, and never understood it. I know that the average American is a bit more squeamish about a lot of things, from nudity to eating raw meat. The former can be explained by the puritan influence, the latter by the food standards which would possibly make things like Mett[0] a bit unsafe. This, however - together with the opposition to walkable cities - I can't wrap my head around. How can eating an insect burger be worse than eating chicken nuggets? [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett

Turing_Machine 3y ago
Excuse me, are you implying that it's only "Americans" who don't eat mealworms and cockroaches on a regular basis? I can assure you that they aren't standard restaurant fare in Europe, either. Oh, I see: you saw a chance to bash "Americans", and took it. > How can eating an insect burger be worse than eating chicken nuggets? How many restaurants in your city serve "insect burgers"? Yeah, that's what I thought. Carry on.
- matheusmoreira 3y ago
  Not just europe! It's quite unheard of here in the developing third world too. In fact, south american countries seem to be somewhat famous for their meat. Brazil is one of the biggest producers and exporters of meat in the world and if it were up to me I'd burn down the whole amazon jungle to make room for more production.
- fnordian_slip 3y ago
  You read a lot more into my comment than is actually there, which is probably the reason for your rather flippant and response. In Europe, insect meat is still extremely rare, and where it is to be found, it is experimental and expensive. The latter will of course change through economies of scale once they reach a certain stage. However, the public perception of insects as food is very different. I have never or heard seen a sulky "I will not eat ze bugs" comment in my language, the whole"globalists want you to eat bugs" conspiracy is mostly unknown, and would be seen as foolish. I have not said that eating insects is the norm, but many here see it as part of the diet of the future, without that squeamishness that seems to be so prevalent in the US. If I were to respond in the same tone as you, I would imply that you already knew that, but didn't want to let a chance pass to make yourself the victim, as Americans often like to pretend that all Europeans look down on you. However, I actually believe this is just a misunderstanding. I know I probably won't get any information from you, since you now see me as a debate opponent instead of a discussion partner, but I was genuinely interested in the reason for the extreme opposition to insect food in the US. Maybe since English is my second language, which I learned in part by reading a lot of rather old books, my grammar and word choices are hindering me in making myself clear.