Around the world premiere of BUGS at the Tribeca Film Festival, two impromptu insect tastings took place in New York City – and both involved escamoles, our current Bug of the Week.  Dig deeper →

There’s a big hype growing around edible insects, and with hype come bold claims. Insects,  low in fat and high in nutrients, are going to revolutionise food on a global scale! Is it true? BUGSfeed went fact–finding, and found some academics working on exactly this question. They recently published a paper, and we’ve delved into the science (so you don’t have to). Here’s what we found…  Dig deeper →

If the phrase ‘Feed the World!’ provokes in you a sense of hopeless cynicism and unwelcome Bob Geldof memories, you’re probably not alone. But the idea that edible insects might be the ‘solution’ has been gaining notoriety in recent years, since the UN published its rallying cry in 2013. Packed with healthy fats, nutrients and protein and easy to rear, bugs are a potential answer to food shortage, or so the argument goes.  Dig deeper →

BUGSfeed explores insects as food for people. It’s a huge topic with enough interesting facts and stories and questions to fill ten books, let alone one website. But here’s one aspect we’ve not looked at yet: what about insects as feed? A key argument of entomophagy’s proponents is that the monumental environmental challenges we face are made much worse by the meat industry. Billions of cattle, poultry and pigs are raised and slaughtered for food.    Dig deeper →

“How can any species have something so delicious and not have a sting?”  Dig deeper →

Surely one of the signs of change is the welcome appearance of sensible, balanced articles in food trade magazines on the topic of edible insects. Covering the founding of the North American Edible Insects Coalition (NAEIC), the story in Food Navigator USA doesn’t even feature the usual sexy-lady-eating-scorpion stock photos that seem to be de rigueur in so much media coverage of entomophagy. Instead, cheery pictures of the founding members illustrate the story – Exo, Chapul, Chirps and other startups that have seen success in the US in recent years. Co-founder of the new coalition, Robert Nathan Allen, thinks the tide is turning. The era of ‘Gross, bugs!’ is giving way to curiosity and enthusiasm. It’s a critical time in this fast-growing industry, and Allen wants to bring together its many disparate parts to form a professional association which will, he hopes, shape the future of edible insects in North America. Allen is a pal of BUGSfeed; a few months ago we grilled him on Aspire’s ambitious palm weevil projects in Ghana. This time we chatted about the new coalition and what the future could hold.  Dig deeper →