entomophagy ?!

Entomophagy. Entomo ‘what’? Most of our family and friends are now used to the idea, but wherever we go and explain what we exactly do, we suddenly see a lot of wrinkles, rising eyebrows and here and there a mouth that falls open. Then there is a polite ‘ahmhm’. So, we decided to write a blog post about our favorite topic: entomophagy!

Facts
Entomophagy is the human consumption of insects as food. In greek ‘éntomon’ means ‘insect’ and ‘phagein’ means ‘to eat’. While in Europe and North America we are not used to entomophagy, the consumption of insects is quite common in most parts of the world: South America, Africa and Asia. There are worldwide 2 billion people that eat insects as part of their daily diet! Yes, 2 billion! 

Before
We have been eating animals for thousands of years. In the United States and Mexico coprolites were found in caves with remaining’s of ants, beetles and larva. There are also cave paintings in Spain that show a collection of edible insects dated from 30.000 till 9.000 BC. This suggests that the first humans already put insects on their menu!

While you look at your steak, we look at the numbers

​Now
Despite thousands of years of evolution, we became narrow minded. While you look at your steak, we look at the numbers: with an estimated population of 9 billion people in 2050, it's necessary to find different ways to meet food and nutrition challenges of today and tomorrow. While 1 billion people are hungry, land is scarce, seas are overfished and climate is changing, insects are a serious option to consider. 

Unfortunately, insects are not (yet!) on the menu’s of every restaurant and people prefer to ignore instead of trying. Getting used to new ways of eating doesn’t happen overnight. Fortunately there are now more and more initiatives and start ups who are introducing the western population to the consumption of insects. 

Oh my bug
We discovered that insects are an amazing ingredient. Besides being small, insects are very nutritional and they offer great possibilities to give an original twist to regular recipes. Oh my bug was born out of the desire to combine the pleasure to cook and to experience new ways of eating while having a sustainable mindset. Grasshopper pizza? Stuffed aubergines with mealworms? Or maybe chocolate scorpions? The choice is yours. Try and enjoy! 

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