A bit buggy
PBS news is busy hyping a story about the latest in upscale culinary fashion trends: eating grubs and insects. The News Hour is the chief source of broadcast news in this house. I hope they appreciate the fact that they have an audience in which the critical faculty is turned on.
There's an angle here that PBS hasn't explored. What we hear is "isn't it about time we joined the rest of the world?" However, the rest of the world eats grubs and bugs because people have to. Here, this addition to the food pyramid is chiefly a novelty cuisine for the one percent. At least, it's presented as such. Beyond whatever taste the little critters may have (not much, apparently), there is an odour of hypocrisy here. We don't have any coverage or reflection on the possibility that there are also Americans who eat insects out of necessity. Also, this is all about eating bugs on purpose, and doesn't consider the wee beasties that may be a part of our daily diet by accident.
Let's also consider that certain seafood--crab, lobster and shrimp--are pretty closely related to certain insects. I don't like them, either.
There's an angle here that PBS hasn't explored. What we hear is "isn't it about time we joined the rest of the world?" However, the rest of the world eats grubs and bugs because people have to. Here, this addition to the food pyramid is chiefly a novelty cuisine for the one percent. At least, it's presented as such. Beyond whatever taste the little critters may have (not much, apparently), there is an odour of hypocrisy here. We don't have any coverage or reflection on the possibility that there are also Americans who eat insects out of necessity. Also, this is all about eating bugs on purpose, and doesn't consider the wee beasties that may be a part of our daily diet by accident.
Let's also consider that certain seafood--crab, lobster and shrimp--are pretty closely related to certain insects. I don't like them, either.
Labels: food, insects, media criticism
posted by Uncle | 12:39
2 Comments:
WABAC machine...I don't think my sister has ever forgiven me for feeding her chocolate covered bugs — bees, ants, grubs, and crickets — without ingredient revelation until after the fact. I had bought the foil-wrapped squares at a fancy Richmond department store for that trick.
Um..I think I'll stick with meat and nuts, thanks.
There was an ice cream place in Columbia,MO that created a concoction using the overabundant cicadas last year. They made the mistake of calling the health dept (I cant recall why)and got told to cease and desist production due to the health dept having no knowledge of what diseases may be transmitted by cicadas. So, they were ahead of their time, it seems. By the way, the cicada ice cream sold out soon after the first batch was made.
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