To us, eating insects is a cringe-worthy act only seen on reality tv shows but to some 2 billion people and a handful of popular celebrities they are a tasty snack. In fact, if you can look past all the legs, eyes, and wings, you will find that eating insects has many benefits.
A Healthy Snack
Insects are not only a great source of protein, but they are also rich in iron, vitamin B12, and calcium. Crickets, for example, have double the protein content than chicken, beef, or pork. Dried crickets are catching on as a meat alternative to meat because 100 grams of beef has 20 grams of fat whilst the same serving of crickets contains 5.5 grams of fat.
It’s Eco-Friendly
Their health benefits aren’t the only reason to munch on insects. Bugs emit much lower levels of greenhouse gases than livestock. And require much less time, effort, and resources to raise. Not to mention they are cold-blooded. Which means they don’t require much energy to stay warm and take up a fraction of the space that cows or pigs do. If enough people jump onboard it could greatly reduce our carbon footprint.
Less Food-Borne Diseases
With the livestock, we currently raise for food we run the risk of a myriad of illnesses from Mad Cow to H1N1. Insects do not carry these diseases which puts another check in the “pro” box.
There Are Tons Of Them
There is an estimated 10 quintillion (That’s 10 with eighteen zeros) insects living on the planet. That’s 200 million insects for each human. Of those, 1,900 species are deemed ok for human consumption. So buy your butterfly nets today!
It’s estimated that humans unintentionally eat 1 pound of bugs a year in other foods so you’re part-way there. If you can’t stomach the bugs hanging around your house call the pros at Pest Control Unlimited at (888) 649-9919 or drop us a message. We offer quarterly pest control programs to make sure your house stays bug-free all year.
