Bug Out

As the world's population continues to grow, environmentalists continue to worry about the long-term impact humans have on the plant, especially when it comes to how we eat. They think we should be doing more to take advantage of the naturally occurring food around us rather than breeding an excessive amount of the animals simply because we find them tasty. That is why this week the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization released a report asking everyone to eat more bugs. Yes, the United Nations truly think people should be more open to eating things like worms, bees, beetles and ants because they are plentiful, especially in areas where there is not nearly as much meat. The report reminds us that 2 billion people on the planet eat bugs every day and they are fine because if you eat enough of them bugs contain just as much protein as your average piece of meat and also that insects are easier to breed, take up less space and unlike cows and pigs bugs do not emit methane gas. In fact, many places consider certain insects to be a delicacy. It is all a matter of getting over the 'gross' factor. Everything they say makes perfect sense, but unfortunately for them the rest of us happen to think eating insects is only something which should happen when you are drunk and on vacation in an exotic land.

This is the problem with most of the plans people like environmentalists come up with - they call for things which are too extreme and have to be enacted too quickly. I'm sure we would be able to get away from eating so much meat eventually, but you need to slowly walk us to that point, not just insist we abandon our longstanding habits immediately. No doubt UN officials would be very quick to point out that in many cultures people eat insects all the time and no one makes a big deal of it. These people have been eating bugs their entire lives and it is totally normal for them. Yeah, well, I would counter that argument by remembering that there is a reason they open a new KFC every 20 minutes in China - once they get a taste of the food group I like to call "not bugs" people would rather eat that than "bugs". (I can only imagine what they would do if we gave them Five Guys.) But beyond taste, here is the other problem these guys face - for our entire childhood our parents taught us to avoid putting insects in our mouth. I don't care how powerful the UN thinks it is, it is not more powerful than mom. But, if this is really what they want people to do I say there is no more powerful leadership tool than being the one who sets the example, so let all these ambassadors be the first in line to start chomping on grasshoppers. Given how often they take advantage of their diplomatic immunity to illegally park in front of really nice restaurants I don't expect that plan to take off.