Talk:Entomophagy in humans

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Number of Species eaten

I have eaten ants and found them sour but quite tasty. Nevertheless, do we have a source for this fact:

Accounts show that humans eat 1200+ species of insects.

I'm sure it's true but it's nice to have sources for things like that. Agentsoo 12:50, 6 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding the citation of the late anthropologist Marvin Harris:

As an advocate of entomophagy, I'm wondering about the information attributed to Harris in this entry. If anyone could enlighten me as to where in Harris' work I could find his claim of this taboo, and its basis in cultures that rely on animals that [supposedly] require less work to 'husband,' I'd be most grateful. I believe that there is compelling research out there to support the claim that insects are the least labor-intensive source of food protein.

Marvin Harris lists a couple plausible-sounding book titles. Stan 22:06, 16 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Crustacea

Sorry I don't have time to work on this myself, but could those who have access to the books do a comparison between attitudes to eating insects and attitudes to eating crustacea? I've seen Batswana shudder with horror at the very idea of a prawn, tho being happy to munch on mopane worms (which at least are not all legs and eyes...). Apart from those from the Okavango, they're pretty freaked by fish generally, in my experience. So there's a very high level of cultural determination going on here. JackyR 17:07, 8 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Picture needed

see: [1] I like Burke's Peerage 10:29, 27 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have more insect food pictures which I took in Thailand. You can take them from Wikipedia commons or Wikipedia Japanese.--Takora D 13:48, 21 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Any?

I am interressed in entomophagy, i can eat any type of ant and insects?

Many insects are edible, but many others are poisonous. It's recommended that you consult a guide book of some sort. But yes, you can eat ants. (I ate some at a bug-cooking show. Sort of tangy-peppery.) You might want to bring this up at the reference deskbibliomaniac 1 5 05:08, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Taboo

I deleted "...with no rational or scientific basis" because it sounds like an underhanded indictment of Western culture. Would we say the same thing when mentioning a taboo in a non-Western culture? Generally not, I think, or, if we did, it would be seen as derogatory. And now, please excuse me while I gag after reading about Casu Marzu! 216.208.65.142 (talk) 01:18, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I feel the information, even if it can be taken as judgemental should be there. Maybe citing the original sentence would be a good compromise? Or better yet, explaining shortly why there is no rational or scientific reason. Something along the lines of "many species are fit for consumption and have a high nutritional value". Pro bug catcher (talk • contribs). 01:29, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is Taboo the right word? To me it suggests more a religious/cultural prohibition (e.g. eating most insects is taboo under Jewish kosher rules). In western culture it's more that we think it's gross. Socially unnacceptable perhaps? But it's not prohibited. 217.44.100.142 (talk) 12:24, 9 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I myself am not too sure about the taboo against eating insects. I think it might have to do with the belief that the tiny size and exoskeleton of the insect would make it hard to remove the blood, fecies, and poison, if the insect has any. I'm not sure, though. Maybe someone could clarify. If the reasons I listed for the taboo against eating insects are valid, it would be nice to include them so this article isn't so passive-aggressively propaganda against taboos against eating insects.--RowdyShortPerson (talk) 20:26, 18 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

more western entomophagy habits

nobody mentioned escargot! i guess chocolate covered ants, also why is honey considered entomophagy? its an insect product, isn't that like calling someone who drinks milk a cow eater? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.192.32.83 (talk) 16:39, 30 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Escargot is not included because snails aren't insects (although many people have a similar taboo against eating them). As for honey, I agree it's a somewhat dubious case, but as insects are involved in its production I can see why it's included. Terraxos (talk) 04:02, 23 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Peptides from insect protein for human consumption

There is research conducted to make peptides from insect protein for use in "functional nourishment" (eg trough the use of bioreactors for cell multiplication). I guess this info shouldn't be added in this article, but might be added somewhere else on the wiki. Not sure however exaclty where. See This article for info and main project page at this site (see "functionele voeding pdf)

Add in appropriate article, Thanks, 81.246.167.100 (talk) 13:19, 6 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Non-insects

This article erroneously describes spiders, scorpions and tarantulas as insects. Does eating them still fall into the category of Entomophagy? Is so, then the section needs editing to point out they are not insects, if not they need deleting. I;m not sure which of these two ways to go. Fork me (talk) 12:48, 21 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No deletion necessary, though a small note might be appropriate. It might be more correct to describe the common definition of "entomophagy" as the consumption not just of insects, but of insect-like non-crustacean animals. To the layman, spiders and scorpions "are" insects, in the same sense that, as far as most cooks are concerned, mushrooms and tomatoes "are" vegetables, though neither is actually accurate. —Lowellian (reply) 14:35, 22 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Vegetable is a culinary classification, not a botanical one, so that's actually perfectly fine. Why don't crustaceans count? -2606:A000:4321:7300:95D:9D9A:B1DB:E327 (talk) 00:19, 21 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Because crustaceans are seafood. Arnoutf (talk) 19:28, 19 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Locusts

Locust are a type of grasshopper. It would be like saying birds and eagles. Fixed it accordingly. Homo Logica (talk) 17:20, 27 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

What the hell is a "traditional culture?"

? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.181.210.123 (talk) 23:54, 13 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Just a politically correct name for a non-European culture.

I don't know why NZ and Australia are included as insect-eating places in the lead. The Aboriginals have insects as part of their every-day diet, but the vast majority of New Zealanders and Australians (i.e. descendants of British colonists) don't. --5.64.142.15 (talk) 14:40, 22 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Ethnic groups?

Isn't it rather limiting and artificial to refer to the "total number of ethnic groups recorded to practice entomophagy is around 3,000"? That reference can also be seen as racist. Wouldn't it be safer and more accurate to say that entomophagy is practiced throughout the world, but more commonly in Asia, and by some 25% [?] of the world's population.119.224.100.246 (talk) 22:17, 11 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]