Ants, crickets and cockroaches: healthy snacks that taste like potato
chips
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[October 02, 2019]
By Hector Guzman
SARCHI, Costa Rica (Reuters) - At his home
in rural Costa Rica, biologist Federico Paniagua joined his family at
the dining table to devour several types of insects that he raised on
his farm and whose flavor he compares to potato chips.
The head of the University of Costa Rica's Insects Museum decided three
years ago to replace animal protein in his diet with crickets, ants,
cockroaches, beetles and other insects - and wants to encourage others
to do the same.
"Insects are delicious," he said in an interview at his farm in Sarchi,
about 30 miles (50 km) from the capital San Jose.
"You can sit and watch a soap opera, watch the football game, do any
activity with a plate full of insects. Eat them one by one, with a glass
of soda... they'll go down well," said Paniagua.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has counted
more than 1,900 insect species that are edible.
Especially in Asia and in Africa, the tiny creatures are touted as
delicacies packed with vitamins, minerals and energy.
Their proponents also note that bugs emit fewer greenhouse gases and
less ammonia than cattle or pigs and require significantly less land and
water than cattle.
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Gabriela Soto prepares insects for lunch, while her husband
biologist Federico Paniagua (unseen) promotes the ingestion of a
wide variety of insects as a low-cost and nutrient-rich food, in
Grecia, Costa Rica, July 13, 2019. Picture taken July 13 2019.
REUTERS/Juan Carlos Ulate
Paniagua's wife, Gabriela Soto, prepared their meal by splashing oil
in a frying pan, adding the farm-raised insects and topping them off
with a dash of salt.
She then brought out several dishes to her young daughter, who
reached into a plate with her hands and munched fearlessly, and
husband, who suggested a bit of lemon would enhance their flavor.
"They are going to taste like potato chips... you can eat basically
a whole plate of these insects," Paniagua said.
(Reporting by Hector Guzman; writing by Ana Isabel Martinez and
Daina Beth Solomon; editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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