Ever think about eating insects?

There are an estimated 1,462 recorded species of edible insects. I am founder of InsectsAreFood.com and budding bug chef. I’ve appeared on MSNBC’s TodayShow.com and allDay.com and several other sites and publications. Visit: http://www.insectsarefood.com and click on the video on the home page.

Since 2005 I’ve experimented with roasting marinated crickets, smoking cilantro seasoned grasshoppers, frying curried caterpillars with scallions and garlic to making chocolate chirp cookies and bamboo worm chips.

Insects have nutritional value. They generally contain more protein, less carbohydrates and are much lower in fat than traditional meats. In addition they have about 20 times higher food conversion efficiency than traditional meats. Insects are easier to raise, reproduce quicker, and need far less living space than traditional livestock, conserving our natural resources by ten fold.

In February 2008, a United Nations Food and Agriculture conference in Chang Mai, Thailand promoted insects as a food source. The conference titled, "Forest Insects as Food: Humans Bite Back," advocated for greater economic development of insects as food sources.

When considering all the benefits of entomophagy it amounts to a viable means of solving a wide range of ecological, economic and health related issues and concerns. Our future is very unpredictable; raising, harvesting and eating insects is a definitive means of sustainability.

If you’re interested in the multi-faceted field of entomophagy, join the cause and get involved. Learn about ways of educating, informing, cooking, eating and enabling others to find out about it and do what you can to get them past the yuck factor. We foresee a bright and fruitful future.