In their press release, FAO experts note that 'insects can be an excellent source of proteins and vitamins. Beetles, grasshoppers, and butterflies contain as much protein as, for example, meat or fish, and the larvae of many insects contain important vitamins and minerals.' According to FAO specialists, about 1.4 thousand species of insects are edible for humans. They are eaten in 36 African, 29 Asian, and 23 North and South American countries. Moreover, in some countries they are a delicacy, while in others they are part of the daily diet. The FAO has seriously considered 'the possibilities of effective use of forests where insects edible for humans live, as well as issues of their collection, packaging, distribution and consumption.'
Domestic experts reacted with surprise to the UN initiative. In the 21st century, there are far more effective ways to feed the population. At least for countries like Russia, this proposal sounds simply absurd.
'The search for new sources of nutrition has always been one of the most important scientific problems,' noted Viktor Tutelyan, director of the Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 'But in Russia, there are inexhaustible opportunities to maintain food security through traditional methods for many more years, so we don't need to think about insects. And in the world as a whole, there are much more pressing topics. For example, today there are very powerful developments in the field of natural biotechnologies – I am talking primarily about genetically modified products. Politicians and journalists constantly speculate on this topic, but it is a well-developed scientific field with enormous prospects, which is already being actively used by countries that have problems with providing food for their population. For instance, China has been developing GMOs at full speed for a long time. For some reason, they are not betting on bugs and spiders.'
However, the expert notes that completely ignoring representatives of the insect world is not necessary: 'If we talk about insects as food, it would rather be as an exotic item, for new sensations. I haven't tried anything like that yet, though. I've eaten crocodile, kangaroo, snake, ostrich, and in South Korea I wanted to try some insect pupa, but I couldn't – it was unpleasant. And my friend, an oncologist, swallowed it and is alive and well as if nothing happened.'
For the hosts of the conference themselves – the Thais – insects are certainly not exotic. A correspondent in Bangkok witnessed a meal where the main dish consisted of two types of ants. Some were doused with hot oil and thus eaten fried, while others were sprinkled on a mound of rice and eaten live. In Taipei, the capital of the unrecognized Republic of China on Taiwan, locust kebab can be ordered in any restaurant except cheap ones (this dish is a rather expensive delicacy).
Locust is also eaten with pleasure in the East, because both the Torah and the Quran consider it respectively kosher or halal. Locust is prepared quite simply – fried alive in boiling oil. Dead 'super-grasshoppers' are not suitable for food, because, as gourmets claim, they taste very bitter. Interestingly, in ancient times many species of locust lived in the Middle East, but Jews were allowed to eat only four. However, in the modern 'Encyclopedia of Kashrut Laws,' Orthodox Jews are generally not recommended to eat locust, because over the millennia, Jews have lost the ability to distinguish permitted species from prohibited ones. However, other religious authorities disagree with the author of this encyclopedia, Avraham Deri. For example, Rabbi Aaron Zelman believes that it is quite possible to rely on natives of Yemen and Morocco, who have passed on knowledge about the 'correct' locust, lost by their European coreligionists.
In Russia, all this seems like an example of a foreign and distant culture, but unconventional sources of food are spreading quickly here too. Largely thanks to bearers of culinary traditions from other countries. For instance, a Vietnamese man was recently caught in Moscow who, driven by hunger, was eating street pigeons. He now faces a small fine. Cases of eating various stray animals are not uncommon. True, attitudes towards insects in the country are still either hostile or, conversely, overly friendly. In any case, they are not consumed at all (except for the same expensive oriental restaurants with exotic menus).
Even in those southern republics of the former Soviet Union where the proportion of hungry people is still quite high, insects do not take root as food, although the menu of 'cuisine for the poor' is quite extensive. For example, in Kyrgyzstan, many recipes for 'axe porridge' are known. Zhaldyzbek, an old-timer of the city of Tokmok (100 kilometers from the capital Bishkek), told a journalist that soup is best made from clover leaves. In his opinion, this plant also works well as a filling for making manti. Next on the list is oak bark. It is used to make 'tree broth.' Even from straw, Kyrgyz manage to cook something edible.
How much better butterflies and grasshoppers are than dumplings with clover is hard to judge – it's a matter of taste, but in terms of richness in vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates, insects are certainly much healthier. Therefore, FAO's advice may be quite appropriate for many. And yet they say the UN is a useless organization...
Roman DOBROKHOTOV, Valentin BOYNIK, Zhanna ZAKHAROVA. 