12 ms·

Cockroach farms multiplying in China

148 points by darkchyld 13y ago

taigeair 13y ago
woah it works for regrowing hair?
- vincie 13y ago
  And of course it cures cancer, diabetes, bad-breath and increases your virility and success with the ladies. They haven't tried it yet, but it should also increase your mileage if you put them in your gas tank.
  - taigeair 13y ago
    You say that but man eastern medicine is powerful stuff!!
    - gboudrias 13y ago
      I'd be more scared of the undocumented side effects than of losing my hair.
      - ekianjo 13y ago
        Well I'm not sure what you should be scared of really. The FDA-approved medicines where some so-called reputable companies have lied to the authorities about the fruits of their research (and hidden the potential side effects), of the chinese medicine stuff. There's not so much you can trust anymore out there when it comes to drugs.
        wuschel 13y ago
        It is sad to see that people have such a bad attitude towards the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Many of my friends work in that sector, and I assure you that their motivation and interest in the their work comes in part from helping people. Give me one industial sector where greed - nature of man - is not a problem.
        ekianjo 13y ago
        I happen to know that sector very well (among others) and it has always struck me how dirty it has always been. Paying doctors to go to the tropical islands for so called "scientific conferences", giving kickbacks vs the number of subscriptions for your drug, manipulating the studies results to make them look better than they actually are, cherry picking the results to get an approval... just list any of the worst practices ever and you can be sure the pharma industry has it. And you get random news here and there on how X big company did this or that (recently Pfizer caught red handed in Japan) but still business continues as usual. The motivation of your friends may be noble, but that's probably because they don't work in the functions which directly relate to these activities. Just open your eyes (and the news).
        wuschel 13y ago
        > [..] tropical islands [..] manipulating the studies results [..] I did not want to argue with you that there is no dirty business in pharmaceuticals or chemistry. All I am saying is that dirty tricks and evil strategies are found throughout the industry, and not only in the medical sector. It is just in the medical sector that one sees the most dramatic consequences. Go to car development, pre-emptive war, OS software, taxi drivers, banks, and I am sure you will find some good examples of low humans can fall.
        ekianjo 13y ago
        The issue with the Pharma industry is that in most countries, the consumer/patient is NOT the one who pays directly for the drug. You have insurance systems, social security groups and so on who are in charge of paying most of the expenses, and on the other side, doctors who are the only ones in charge of providing the drug. So, the pharma industry is very much prone to corrupt practices because they do not have to sell directly to patients and can control who delivers the drug to who in the end. Therefore they will not see any hurt in sales no matter what they are found doing (except for cases where they have hidden deleterious health effects, which is really the worst practice of all). In the car industry, if you make a crappy car, people will notice it and will stop trusting your brand. In pharmaceuticals, you will never see that. I even wonder how companies like that are allowed to keep operating when they are found blatantly lying about serious health consequences. They should be put out of business.
    - pramalin 13y ago
      One may have heard the medicinal properties of cow urine: http://www.gomataseva.org/pure-cow-products/gomutra-cowurine http://www.gomataseva.org/pure-cow-products/gomutra-cowurine The advantages of Gomutra are: It works as antibacterial agent Boosts the immunity of the body Useful for heart patients and obesity Lowers cholesterol levels Reduces fats Improves brain power Repairs and regenerates damaged tissues and cells Cures children’s cough and other diseases Increases life span and purifies the blood.
      - pramalin 13y ago
        I'm not endorsing this. Just pointing out that Eastern medicine have promoted many questionable items like this and others. More recently a well known spiritual organization started selling sakthi drop - a cure for all medicine too. http://artoflivingupdates.artoflivinguniverse.org/2011/11/new-release-shakti-immune-drops-from.html http://artoflivingupdates.artoflivinguniverse.org/2011/11/ne.... And there is no limit of mantras and yanthras on the market for the believers.
mmagin 13y ago
I see loads of those outside at night in warm weather here. Maybe there's some kind of reverse-aliexpress I can use to sell them? :)
- TeMPOraL 13y ago
  Just catch them and market yourself as "keeping the manufacturing on the U.S. soil"[0] ;). [0] - assuming you currently live in US, not in Malaysia :).
thaumasiotes 13y ago
> "With cockroaches, you can invest 20 yuan and get back 150 yuan," or $3.25 for a return of $11. ????????? As I see it, 150元 is seven and a half times as much as 20元. I didn't use any exchange rate of any sort to compute that. Seven and a half times $3.25 is $24.375 . Using the most charitable interpretation I can think of, that's a return of $21.12 on an investment of $3.25, but put in the same terms as the original quote, I'd call it investing $3.25 and getting back $24.38. What happened there?
- guerrilla 13y ago
  Yes, you seem to be correct. Good catch. According to a google for "150 CNY in USD", "150 Chinese Yuan equals 24.59 US Dollar"
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    Well sure, but even if 150 chinese yuan were equal to 11 USD, turning 20 yuan into 150 yuan wouldn't be like turning $3.25 into $11, it would be like turning $3.25 into $24.375. It might be metaphysically more like turning $1.47 into $11, but absolute quantities aren't really at issue when you're talking about return rates (I'm assuming the cockroach farm, which by implication earns in the tens of thousands of USD per year, can scale up beyond a return of 150 yuan). It would have been easier and less of a gaffe for the reporter to say "you can invest 20 yuan and get back 150 yuan, or $20 for a return of $150". Why did they bother to print a conversion at all?
    - corin_ 13y ago
      There is some logic in the conversion as it helps show scale - if you run a lemonade stand it may be true to say you can invest $10 and profit $20, but not true that you could invest $1m and profit $2m, whereas in a car manufacturing business you might be able to invest $Xm and profit $2Xm, but investing $10 is unlikely to give you any return. These two scenarios can't both be explained as "you can invest 1 and get 2 back". That said, a single quote, even with conversion, doesn't help much here - if a reader wanted to start a farm now it doesn't give them any idea of whether 20 yuan is the minimum or the maximum investment (I presume it's below the minimum anyway).
spodek 13y ago
Capitalism is stronger than customs. If growing them feeds people efficiently, we'll see it here soon enough. Potatoes didn't exist outside the Americas until after 1492. Then many cultures viewed them as lowly and not worth eating. But you can feed more people per area than any other food and they grow in more types of land than many other edible plants. Cultures would reject them until a famine struck. Then the ruler would eat them out of necessity. Then everyone would eat them. Now potatoes are in more cuisines of the world than any other food. If cockroaches are efficient, I would expect a few shocks in some commodity markets to put them on a few cultures' dinner plates, then to spread. Like roaches, if you'll pardon the pun.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  > Cultures would reject them [potatoes] until a famine struck. Then the ruler would eat them out of necessity. Then everyone would eat them. I'd love to read more about this. Can you point me to a particular episode? The ruler is pretty much the last person I'd expect to eat something out of necessity.
  - imarg 13y ago
    There is an interesting story (that probably is just a myth) of how potatoes were introduced in Greece. The then head of state, Kapodistrias: "Having ordered a shipment of potatoes, at first he ordered that they be offered to anyone interested. However the potatoes were met with indifference by the population and the whole scheme seemed to be failing. Therefore Kapodistrias, knowing of the contemporary Greek attitudes, ordered that the whole shipment of potatoes be unloaded in public display on the docks of Nafplion, and placed with severe-looking guards guarding it. Soon, rumours circulated that for the potatoes to be so well guarded they had to be of great importance. People would gather to look at the so-important potatoes and soon some tried to steal them. The guards had been ordered in advance to turn a blind eye to such behaviour, and soon the potatoes had all been "stolen" and Kapodistrias' plan to introduce them to Greece had succeeded." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioannis_Kapodistrias#Administration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioannis_Kapodistrias#Administra... (2nd paragraph)
pkfrank 13y ago
I'm more excited by cricket farming for protein flour (here in the US). There's a Brooklyn company called Exo (Exo.co) which is doing just that after a kickstarter campaign + media blitz. Cricket flour is super high in protein, and also very sustainable. Could see it becoming the next acai, chia seed, quinoa, etc.
- rob05c 13y ago
  I don't know how common my sentiment is, but I'd be far more inclined to eat crickets than cockroaches. I psychologically associate roaches with disease. Crickets are just another insect. I realize this is irrational, and that fauna which feed on garbage like rats and roaches can be farm-raised in sanitary conditions. I'm still not going to eat a roach.
  - 31reasons 13y ago
    I don't know how common my sentiment is, but I would stay the hell away from anything related to insects for purely psychological reasons.
    - kseistrup 13y ago
      That's simply because of our culture. Some years ago I was offered fried grasshoppers and ants in Zambia and my initial reation was repulsion. Then a thought similar to the last sentence in the cockroach article went through my mind: »You will regret your whole life not trying them.« Turned out the hoppers and the ants were both delicious.
      - riffraff 13y ago
        I think that was the point of the comment: I would stay away from it because of my culture. Now, technically I wouldn't, but I grew up considering, slugs, frogs, hedgehogs, rabbits and mixed small birds as great food. No bugs. Yet, even though I tried bugs, I wouldn't want to eat them daily. If you can eat something once, the "cool story bro" mechanics kick in, but it's not the same as accepting something as integral part of your diet.
clarkdave 13y ago
I set up a mini cockroach farm to feed my lizard (a bearded dragon). They're easy to look after, very low maintenance, never bite and don't make much noise. I can't say I've ever wanted to eat one, but I can see why they'd be an excellent creature to farm if people are willing.
- giardini 13y ago
  They _will_ bite! Try catching one that doesn't want to be caught.
dwaltrip 13y ago
I find it interesting how blatantly those quoted in the article talk about the pursuit of wealth. One of the local Chinese governments even has an award for "expert in getting wealthy"! I guess it isn't as reprehensible coming from a country with so many rural poor, but I still find it depressing.
- nohuck13 13y ago
  Can you explain this? Is it the pursuit of wealth that's reprehensible to you? Violating the taboo against talking too openly about it? Or just the ridiculous award? I don't find it reprehensible at all. It's not like the cockroach farmer is saying he wants to be a party leader so he get lucrative contracts for his friends. He seems to be just selling a product.
  - dwaltrip 13y ago
    I don't jive with the pursuit of wealth for wealth's sake. There was a study showing that once we have enough to be comfortable, additional wealth has no correlation with increased happiness. I also think that the materialistic and ultra-consupmtion-based aspects of many modern societies are somewhat harmful. It is all about status, posturing, and buying shit you don't need. But I don't want to rant too much :)
- ekianjo 13y ago
  Not all countries/people feel bad about getting rich. :) In China on every new Year you wish each other "prosperity" and this partly linked to making it big, too.
  - Amadou 13y ago
    On the other hand, I new a girl who came over on a post-Tienanmen visa (they let practically anyone from China in to the US for a while after that incident). She was from a rural town, yet she told me they had a saying about Shanghainese (apparently there is a lot of regional jingoism there). The saying translated roughly as "You can't get that rich without doing something bad."
shaneofalltrad 13y ago
I read Hacker News on a daily now and never in my life thought a topic from my previous daily reads (Gecko and Reptile forums) would ever make it here! I once bred roaches for reptile food and the lizards did prefer them over anything else, so I would guess they are tasty!
- userulluipeste 13y ago
  "I read Hacker News on a daily now and never in my life thought a topic from my previous daily reads (Gecko and Reptile forums) would ever make it here!" But such a topic did make it here before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5750173 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5750173
apagade 13y ago
Yucks...!! Cockroch Farming and that for use in medicines and cosmetics?? then why we do paste control??
devx 13y ago
Wasn't lobster used to be called the "cockroach of the sea"? If they change their names and brand them as something else, they could probably sell very well as expensive food, too.
Dirlewanger 13y ago
Are they good? What's the standard, throw a bunch of dried ones into a wok with sesame oil and they're ready to go?
mathattack 13y ago
He expressed disapproval that visiting journalists refused to sample the roaches. On saying goodbye at the end of the day, he added a final rejoinder. "You will regret your whole life not trying them." Whenever I travel, I do my best to eat like a local. In my sheltered life, I never ate sushi until I first visited Japan. There I had sushi so fresh it was still moving. I ate Balut [1] when someone handed me an egg in Manila. But I think my cultural adventure would have stopped at the same spot as the aforementioned journalists. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)
blisterpeanuts 13y ago
My wife and I read a book a few years ago: "Man Eating Bugs", a travelogue of insect cuisine in many different lands. It was quite fascinating. Children in Mexico would pick up a stink bug and eat it raw, a sour-crunchy snack. In Southeast Asia there's a large beetle about the size of a Snickers bar that in fact tastes like a Snickers bar. In Africa some folks like to eat large termites, a high protein food source. In Australia, there's a type of grub that lives in the roots of certain bushes that aborigines will cut open and eat. In Japan there are some "interesting" dishes. I've tried grasshoppers, sold in tiny packets, salted and spiced to the point where you only taste the spice and salt. Bear Ghrylls demonstrated eating ants as a survival technique (remove the head first). Insects are superior to meat in many ways--low fat, high quality protein and other nutrients, low on the food chain so they contain fewer toxins which tend to accumulate in herbivores and even more in carnivores. You can harvest grasshoppers in the wild using nets. Just be careful that they haven't been chewing on poison ivy or other toxic plants which may do you harm. I've long had it in mind to start an insect food business and this article was rather inspiring. This guy just started a cockroach farm and is making money. It may sound disgusting to us squeamish Westerners, yet think about the notion of eating a pig or a cow, higher mammals which are fairly intelligent, creatures who exhibit emotions, who dream, who are evolutionarily our second cousins when compared to insects. Just don't eat dragonflies (a popular skewered dish in a part of Indonesia). They keep down the mosquito population.
- willismichael 13y ago
  When people react with disgust to the idea of insect-based cuisine, I ask if they eat shrimp. They're not entirely different, both being arthropods.
squozzer 13y ago
Grunka Lunka Dunkity Dingredient, you should not ask about the secret ingredient.
gwern 13y ago
A word of advice if you're trying out cockroaches/crickets/cicadas for yourself: do something about the shell if it isn't very soft. During the most recent cicada emergence in my area, I caught a bunch and cooked them up as spaghetti ( http://www.gwern.net/Notes#cicadas http://www.gwern.net/Notes#cicadas ); unfortunately, I didn't do anything about their shells, which were pretty tough toward the end of the emergence, and my dinner was less pleasant than I hoped.

148 points by darkchyld 13y ago

taigeair 13y ago

woah it works for regrowing hair?

vincie 13y ago
And of course it cures cancer, diabetes, bad-breath and increases your virility and success with the ladies. They haven't tried it yet, but it should also increase your mileage if you put them in your gas tank.
- taigeair 13y ago
  You say that but man eastern medicine is powerful stuff!!
  - gboudrias 13y ago
    I'd be more scared of the undocumented side effects than of losing my hair.
    - ekianjo 13y ago
      Well I'm not sure what you should be scared of really. The FDA-approved medicines where some so-called reputable companies have lied to the authorities about the fruits of their research (and hidden the potential side effects), of the chinese medicine stuff. There's not so much you can trust anymore out there when it comes to drugs.
      - wuschel 13y ago
        It is sad to see that people have such a bad attitude towards the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Many of my friends work in that sector, and I assure you that their motivation and interest in the their work comes in part from helping people. Give me one industial sector where greed - nature of man - is not a problem.
        ekianjo 13y ago
        I happen to know that sector very well (among others) and it has always struck me how dirty it has always been. Paying doctors to go to the tropical islands for so called "scientific conferences", giving kickbacks vs the number of subscriptions for your drug, manipulating the studies results to make them look better than they actually are, cherry picking the results to get an approval... just list any of the worst practices ever and you can be sure the pharma industry has it. And you get random news here and there on how X big company did this or that (recently Pfizer caught red handed in Japan) but still business continues as usual. The motivation of your friends may be noble, but that's probably because they don't work in the functions which directly relate to these activities. Just open your eyes (and the news).
        wuschel 13y ago
        > [..] tropical islands [..] manipulating the studies results [..] I did not want to argue with you that there is no dirty business in pharmaceuticals or chemistry. All I am saying is that dirty tricks and evil strategies are found throughout the industry, and not only in the medical sector. It is just in the medical sector that one sees the most dramatic consequences. Go to car development, pre-emptive war, OS software, taxi drivers, banks, and I am sure you will find some good examples of low humans can fall.
        ekianjo 13y ago
        The issue with the Pharma industry is that in most countries, the consumer/patient is NOT the one who pays directly for the drug. You have insurance systems, social security groups and so on who are in charge of paying most of the expenses, and on the other side, doctors who are the only ones in charge of providing the drug. So, the pharma industry is very much prone to corrupt practices because they do not have to sell directly to patients and can control who delivers the drug to who in the end. Therefore they will not see any hurt in sales no matter what they are found doing (except for cases where they have hidden deleterious health effects, which is really the worst practice of all). In the car industry, if you make a crappy car, people will notice it and will stop trusting your brand. In pharmaceuticals, you will never see that. I even wonder how companies like that are allowed to keep operating when they are found blatantly lying about serious health consequences. They should be put out of business.
  - pramalin 13y ago
    One may have heard the medicinal properties of cow urine: http://www.gomataseva.org/pure-cow-products/gomutra-cowurine http://www.gomataseva.org/pure-cow-products/gomutra-cowurine The advantages of Gomutra are: It works as antibacterial agent Boosts the immunity of the body Useful for heart patients and obesity Lowers cholesterol levels Reduces fats Improves brain power Repairs and regenerates damaged tissues and cells Cures children’s cough and other diseases Increases life span and purifies the blood.
    - pramalin 13y ago
      I'm not endorsing this. Just pointing out that Eastern medicine have promoted many questionable items like this and others. More recently a well known spiritual organization started selling sakthi drop - a cure for all medicine too. http://artoflivingupdates.artoflivinguniverse.org/2011/11/new-release-shakti-immune-drops-from.html http://artoflivingupdates.artoflivinguniverse.org/2011/11/ne.... And there is no limit of mantras and yanthras on the market for the believers.

mmagin 13y ago

I see loads of those outside at night in warm weather here. Maybe there's some kind of reverse-aliexpress I can use to sell them? :)

TeMPOraL 13y ago
Just catch them and market yourself as "keeping the manufacturing on the U.S. soil"[0] ;). [0] - assuming you currently live in US, not in Malaysia :).

thaumasiotes 13y ago

> "With cockroaches, you can invest 20 yuan and get back 150 yuan," or $3.25 for a return of $11. ????????? As I see it, 150元 is seven and a half times as much as 20元. I didn't use any exchange rate of any sort to compute that. Seven and a half times $3.25 is $24.375 . Using the most charitable interpretation I can think of, that's a return of $21.12 on an investment of $3.25, but put in the same terms as the original quote, I'd call it investing $3.25 and getting back $24.38. What happened there?

guerrilla 13y ago
Yes, you seem to be correct. Good catch. According to a google for "150 CNY in USD", "150 Chinese Yuan equals 24.59 US Dollar"
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  Well sure, but even if 150 chinese yuan were equal to 11 USD, turning 20 yuan into 150 yuan wouldn't be like turning $3.25 into $11, it would be like turning $3.25 into $24.375. It might be metaphysically more like turning $1.47 into $11, but absolute quantities aren't really at issue when you're talking about return rates (I'm assuming the cockroach farm, which by implication earns in the tens of thousands of USD per year, can scale up beyond a return of 150 yuan). It would have been easier and less of a gaffe for the reporter to say "you can invest 20 yuan and get back 150 yuan, or $20 for a return of $150". Why did they bother to print a conversion at all?
  - corin_ 13y ago
    There is some logic in the conversion as it helps show scale - if you run a lemonade stand it may be true to say you can invest $10 and profit $20, but not true that you could invest $1m and profit $2m, whereas in a car manufacturing business you might be able to invest $Xm and profit $2Xm, but investing $10 is unlikely to give you any return. These two scenarios can't both be explained as "you can invest 1 and get 2 back". That said, a single quote, even with conversion, doesn't help much here - if a reader wanted to start a farm now it doesn't give them any idea of whether 20 yuan is the minimum or the maximum investment (I presume it's below the minimum anyway).

spodek 13y ago

Capitalism is stronger than customs. If growing them feeds people efficiently, we'll see it here soon enough. Potatoes didn't exist outside the Americas until after 1492. Then many cultures viewed them as lowly and not worth eating. But you can feed more people per area than any other food and they grow in more types of land than many other edible plants. Cultures would reject them until a famine struck. Then the ruler would eat them out of necessity. Then everyone would eat them. Now potatoes are in more cuisines of the world than any other food. If cockroaches are efficient, I would expect a few shocks in some commodity markets to put them on a few cultures' dinner plates, then to spread. Like roaches, if you'll pardon the pun.

thaumasiotes 13y ago
> Cultures would reject them [potatoes] until a famine struck. Then the ruler would eat them out of necessity. Then everyone would eat them. I'd love to read more about this. Can you point me to a particular episode? The ruler is pretty much the last person I'd expect to eat something out of necessity.
- imarg 13y ago
  There is an interesting story (that probably is just a myth) of how potatoes were introduced in Greece. The then head of state, Kapodistrias: "Having ordered a shipment of potatoes, at first he ordered that they be offered to anyone interested. However the potatoes were met with indifference by the population and the whole scheme seemed to be failing. Therefore Kapodistrias, knowing of the contemporary Greek attitudes, ordered that the whole shipment of potatoes be unloaded in public display on the docks of Nafplion, and placed with severe-looking guards guarding it. Soon, rumours circulated that for the potatoes to be so well guarded they had to be of great importance. People would gather to look at the so-important potatoes and soon some tried to steal them. The guards had been ordered in advance to turn a blind eye to such behaviour, and soon the potatoes had all been "stolen" and Kapodistrias' plan to introduce them to Greece had succeeded." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioannis_Kapodistrias#Administration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioannis_Kapodistrias#Administra... (2nd paragraph)

pkfrank 13y ago

I'm more excited by cricket farming for protein flour (here in the US). There's a Brooklyn company called Exo (Exo.co) which is doing just that after a kickstarter campaign + media blitz. Cricket flour is super high in protein, and also very sustainable. Could see it becoming the next acai, chia seed, quinoa, etc.

rob05c 13y ago
I don't know how common my sentiment is, but I'd be far more inclined to eat crickets than cockroaches. I psychologically associate roaches with disease. Crickets are just another insect. I realize this is irrational, and that fauna which feed on garbage like rats and roaches can be farm-raised in sanitary conditions. I'm still not going to eat a roach.
- 31reasons 13y ago
  I don't know how common my sentiment is, but I would stay the hell away from anything related to insects for purely psychological reasons.
  - kseistrup 13y ago
    That's simply because of our culture. Some years ago I was offered fried grasshoppers and ants in Zambia and my initial reation was repulsion. Then a thought similar to the last sentence in the cockroach article went through my mind: »You will regret your whole life not trying them.« Turned out the hoppers and the ants were both delicious.
    - riffraff 13y ago
      I think that was the point of the comment: I would stay away from it because of my culture. Now, technically I wouldn't, but I grew up considering, slugs, frogs, hedgehogs, rabbits and mixed small birds as great food. No bugs. Yet, even though I tried bugs, I wouldn't want to eat them daily. If you can eat something once, the "cool story bro" mechanics kick in, but it's not the same as accepting something as integral part of your diet.

clarkdave 13y ago

I set up a mini cockroach farm to feed my lizard (a bearded dragon). They're easy to look after, very low maintenance, never bite and don't make much noise. I can't say I've ever wanted to eat one, but I can see why they'd be an excellent creature to farm if people are willing.

giardini 13y ago
They _will_ bite! Try catching one that doesn't want to be caught.

dwaltrip 13y ago

I find it interesting how blatantly those quoted in the article talk about the pursuit of wealth. One of the local Chinese governments even has an award for "expert in getting wealthy"! I guess it isn't as reprehensible coming from a country with so many rural poor, but I still find it depressing.

nohuck13 13y ago
Can you explain this? Is it the pursuit of wealth that's reprehensible to you? Violating the taboo against talking too openly about it? Or just the ridiculous award? I don't find it reprehensible at all. It's not like the cockroach farmer is saying he wants to be a party leader so he get lucrative contracts for his friends. He seems to be just selling a product.
- dwaltrip 13y ago
  I don't jive with the pursuit of wealth for wealth's sake. There was a study showing that once we have enough to be comfortable, additional wealth has no correlation with increased happiness. I also think that the materialistic and ultra-consupmtion-based aspects of many modern societies are somewhat harmful. It is all about status, posturing, and buying shit you don't need. But I don't want to rant too much :)
ekianjo 13y ago
Not all countries/people feel bad about getting rich. :) In China on every new Year you wish each other "prosperity" and this partly linked to making it big, too.
- Amadou 13y ago
  On the other hand, I new a girl who came over on a post-Tienanmen visa (they let practically anyone from China in to the US for a while after that incident). She was from a rural town, yet she told me they had a saying about Shanghainese (apparently there is a lot of regional jingoism there). The saying translated roughly as "You can't get that rich without doing something bad."

shaneofalltrad 13y ago

I read Hacker News on a daily now and never in my life thought a topic from my previous daily reads (Gecko and Reptile forums) would ever make it here! I once bred roaches for reptile food and the lizards did prefer them over anything else, so I would guess they are tasty!

userulluipeste 13y ago
"I read Hacker News on a daily now and never in my life thought a topic from my previous daily reads (Gecko and Reptile forums) would ever make it here!" But such a topic did make it here before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5750173 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5750173

apagade 13y ago

Yucks...!! Cockroch Farming and that for use in medicines and cosmetics?? then why we do paste control??

devx 13y ago

Wasn't lobster used to be called the "cockroach of the sea"? If they change their names and brand them as something else, they could probably sell very well as expensive food, too.

Dirlewanger 13y ago

Are they good? What's the standard, throw a bunch of dried ones into a wok with sesame oil and they're ready to go?

mathattack 13y ago

He expressed disapproval that visiting journalists refused to sample the roaches. On saying goodbye at the end of the day, he added a final rejoinder. "You will regret your whole life not trying them." Whenever I travel, I do my best to eat like a local. In my sheltered life, I never ate sushi until I first visited Japan. There I had sushi so fresh it was still moving. I ate Balut [1] when someone handed me an egg in Manila. But I think my cultural adventure would have stopped at the same spot as the aforementioned journalists. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)

blisterpeanuts 13y ago

My wife and I read a book a few years ago: "Man Eating Bugs", a travelogue of insect cuisine in many different lands. It was quite fascinating. Children in Mexico would pick up a stink bug and eat it raw, a sour-crunchy snack. In Southeast Asia there's a large beetle about the size of a Snickers bar that in fact tastes like a Snickers bar. In Africa some folks like to eat large termites, a high protein food source. In Australia, there's a type of grub that lives in the roots of certain bushes that aborigines will cut open and eat. In Japan there are some "interesting" dishes. I've tried grasshoppers, sold in tiny packets, salted and spiced to the point where you only taste the spice and salt. Bear Ghrylls demonstrated eating ants as a survival technique (remove the head first). Insects are superior to meat in many ways--low fat, high quality protein and other nutrients, low on the food chain so they contain fewer toxins which tend to accumulate in herbivores and even more in carnivores. You can harvest grasshoppers in the wild using nets. Just be careful that they haven't been chewing on poison ivy or other toxic plants which may do you harm. I've long had it in mind to start an insect food business and this article was rather inspiring. This guy just started a cockroach farm and is making money. It may sound disgusting to us squeamish Westerners, yet think about the notion of eating a pig or a cow, higher mammals which are fairly intelligent, creatures who exhibit emotions, who dream, who are evolutionarily our second cousins when compared to insects. Just don't eat dragonflies (a popular skewered dish in a part of Indonesia). They keep down the mosquito population.

willismichael 13y ago
When people react with disgust to the idea of insect-based cuisine, I ask if they eat shrimp. They're not entirely different, both being arthropods.

squozzer 13y ago

Grunka Lunka Dunkity Dingredient, you should not ask about the secret ingredient.

gwern 13y ago

A word of advice if you're trying out cockroaches/crickets/cicadas for yourself: do something about the shell if it isn't very soft. During the most recent cicada emergence in my area, I caught a bunch and cooked them up as spaghetti ( http://www.gwern.net/Notes#cicadas http://www.gwern.net/Notes#cicadas ); unfortunately, I didn't do anything about their shells, which were pretty tough toward the end of the emergence, and my dinner was less pleasant than I hoped.