Talk:Entomophagy

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[edit] Number of Species eaten

I have eaten ants and found them sour but quite tasty. Nevertheless, do we have a source for this fact:

Accounts show that humans eat 1200+ species of insects.

I'm sure it's true but it's nice to have sources for things like that. Agentsoo 12:50, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

Regarding the citation of the late anthropologist Marvin Harris:

As an advocate of entomophagy, I'm wondering about the information attributed to Harris in this entry. If anyone could enlighten me as to where in Harris' work I could find his claim of this taboo, and its basis in cultures that rely on animals that [supposedly] require less work to 'husband,' I'd be most grateful. I believe that there is compelling research out there to support the claim that insects are the least labor-intensive source of food protein.

Marvin Harris lists a couple plausible-sounding book titles. Stan 22:06, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Crustacea

Sorry I don't have time to work on this myself, but could those who have access to the books do a comparison between attitudes to eating insects and attitudes to eating crustacea? I've seen Batswana shudder with horror at the very idea of a prawn, tho being happy to munch on mopane worms (which at least are not all legs and eyes...). Apart from those from the Okavango, they're pretty freaked by fish generally, in my experience. So there's a very high level of cultural determination going on here. JackyR 17:07, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Picture needed

see: [1] I like Burke's Peerage 10:29, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

I have more insect food pictures which I took in Thailand. You can take them from Wikipedia commons or Wikipedia Japanese.--Takora D 13:48, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Any?

I am interressed in entomophagy, i can eat any type of ant and insects?

Many insects are edible, but many others are poisonous. It's recommended that you consult a guide book of some sort. But yes, you can eat ants. (I ate some at a bug-cooking show. Sort of tangy-peppery.) You might want to bring this up at the reference deskbibliomaniac15 05:08, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Taboo

I deleted "...with no rational or scientific basis" because it sounds like an underhanded indictment of Western culture. Would we say the same thing when mentioning a taboo in a non-Western culture? Generally not, I think, or, if we did, it would be seen as derogatory. And now, please excuse me while I gag after reading about Casu Marzu! 216.208.65.142 (talk) 01:18, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

I feel the information, even if it can be taken as judgemental should be there. Maybe citing the original sentence would be a good compromise? Or better yet, explaining shortly why there is no rational or scientific reason. Something along the lines of "many species are fit for consumption and have a high nutritional value". Pro bug catcher (talk • contribs). 01:29, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] more western entomophagy habits

nobody mentioned escargot! i guess chocolate covered ants, also why is honey considered entomophagy? its an insect product, isn't that like calling someone who drinks milk a cow eater? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.192.32.83 (talk) 16:39, 30 May 2008 (UTC)