Monday, September 16, 2013 C7
HEALTH
The wrongs about the right to food ................................................ Amrit Dhillon life@scmp.com
Above: chef David Faure serves crickets with foie gras. Below: a cricket and a plate of mealworms. Photos: AFP, Felix Wong, Daniella Martin
GRUB’S
Eating creepy crawlies could help the environment, your health and your waistline, writes Kate Whitehead
UP
F
ancy chewing on a caterpillar or making a meal of crunchy crickets? The idea might disgust you now, but the United Nations is hoping to change the public perception of eating bugs. Switching to an insect-rich diet could not only be good for your health, but have environmental and economic benefits, too. The UN’s 187-page report, Edible Insects, makes a convincing case: insects grow fast, thrive on the waste of many industrial processes, use substantially less land and water than other livestock, produce less pollution than cattle or pigs and they are good for you. Packed with protein, fibre, good fats and minerals, the report hails insects as a healthy and nutritious alternative to mainstream staples, such as beef, pork and chicken. The purpose of the study was to answer the question: how best to feed the nine billion people who will be on the planet by 2050? According to the report, two billion people are already eating insects – bugs are an integral part of the diet in many parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, South America and Mexico. There are more than 1,900 insect species around the world which have been documented as edible, hundreds of which are being eaten. The report found the insects most commonly consumed by humans were beetles (31 per cent), caterpillars (18 per cent) and bees, wasps and ants (14 per cent), followed by grasshoppers, locusts and crickets (13 per cent). But for those with Western tastes, the “yuck” factor that comes with eating insects is still a big obstacle. Anyone who recoils in horror at the thought of feasting on creepy crawlies might do well to consider that they probably already have. If you’ve enjoyed the coloured chocolate Smarties, you’ve already crossed the line. Up until a few years ago, coatings included cochineal, a crimson food dye derived from an insect that feeds on cacti. The US Food and Drug Administration says wheat flour with an average of 150 or fewer insect fragments per 100 grams, and tomato juice with no more than one maggot per 100 grams, is fit for human consumption. Insects are found on the menus of some of the world’s leading kitchens. Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is known to cook with insects and French chef David Faure has been serving crickets with foie gras at his Michelin-star restaurant in Nice for the past few months. Daniella Martin has been munching on bugs for years. She hosts the insect cooking/travel show and website Girl Meets Bug and is passionate about
promoting this cheap, eco-friendly source of protein. She says mopane caterpillars, grasshoppers and beetle larvae are among the most nutritious. Mopane caterpillars are very high in protein and calcium and are an important food source for many in rural southern Africa. In Thailand, bamboo caterpillars, which are high in protein and calcium, are promoted by the country’s Ministry of Agriculture as an increasingly viable source of food and income. Canned bamboo caterpillars are sold throughout the country and exported. “All insects taste a little different, but generally crickets and grasshoppers taste like nutty shrimp,” says Martin who prefers to eat them sautéed with garlic or roasted in the oven until they are crunchy. Grasshoppers are a great source of protein. They have 20.6 grams of protein per 100 grams of insect, compared to 25.8 grams of protein provided by an equivalent amount of lean beef. Every 100 grams of grasshopper
Generally, crickets and grasshoppers taste like nutty shrimp DANIELLA MARTIN, GIRL MEETS BUG
contains 35.2 milligrams of calcium, about three times the amount found in beef. If you need iron, crickets could be the answer. A 100 gram serving of cricket will give you 63 per cent of your recommended daily allowance. Compared with beef, crickets are the low-fat option. Consider that 100 grams of cricket contains 121 calories and 5.5 grams of fat. The same amount of beef has 288 calories and 21.2 grams of fat. Beetle larvae – also known as mealworms – are at the second of four stages of their lives and eat and grow until they have enough energy stored to metamorphose into pupae and then beetles. They are high in protein and fat. “I like wax moth larvae best – they are easy to obtain from farms, easy to prepare, and have a very mild, pleasing flavour. They are fed a diet of bran and honey, which probably contributes to their taste,” says Martin. Sautéed they taste a lot
Daniella Martin’s honey-glazed silkworm and cricket kebabs.
like mushrooms, she says. And oven-roasted they are more like pine nuts. “Both ways, they are delicious. I have heard firsttime tasters say they taste better than chicken,” she says. Ants can also be packed with goodness. Weaver ants have a protein content of 40 per cent to 50 per cent. They are popular in Central Africa, Myanmar, Borneo, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia. In Thailand, where they are twice as expensive per gram as beef or pork, they are fried or eaten in salads and soups. Termites are also very high in iron, protein and essential fatty acids. Spiders aren’t insects, but they are often included in discussions of entomophagy, the practice of eating insects. Large spiders are a great source of protein. Every 100 gram serving of spider has 63 grams of protein, which is 126 per cent of RDA. It’s important to remove the fangs before you eat them. Which parts of the insect you eat depends on personal taste. “Some bugs have hefty exoskeletons that you wouldn’t want to eat – giant waterbugs, for instance, have shells like hard plastic, as do certain scorpions,” says Martin. To get the maximum nutrition, she recommends eating the whole body. The same is true of fish – by eating the entire animal, you take in more minerals and vitamins than when you just eat the fillets. “I tend to eat the whole insect, even grasshoppers and crickets, but then, I’m the type to eat shrimp tails and leave the peel on my vegetables. I don’t mind the texture, and view it as extra minerals. However, many people prefer to remove the legs and wings from crickets, cicadas and grasshoppers,” says Martin. But it’s not a good idea to go foraging for bugs as you don’t know what kind of chemicals or pesticides they may have come in contact with. The best bet is to buy them from a reliable source or raise them yourself. But if you do find yourself stranded in the wild or cast in a Survivor television show, a good rule of thumb is to avoid eating the brightly coloured bugs, as well as the hairy ones, as they’re likely to be poisonous. life@scmp.com
Last month, on the day a new food security scheme was launched in India’s capital New Delhi, Shivani Khujur had a broad smile of relief on her face. For Khujur, a maid married to a driver, it meant that her four children – a fifth is on the way – would not have to go hungry. Under the landmark National Food Security Bill, India’s 1.2 billion citizens have a legal right to food. Some 800 million people will get subsidised wheat, rice and cereals through the US$20 billion scheme aimed at cutting malnutrition and easing poverty. The bill was sent in midAugust by India’s parliament to the president for approval. Every eligible person will be able to procure five kilograms of rice, wheat, and coarse grains per month at a very low price – between 1 rupee (12 HK cents) and 3 rupees per kilogram. “As long as I can get rice and wheat, I can feed my children, even though I can’t afford to give them vegetables very often. At these prices, it’s basically free,” says Khujur. She’ll also gain from the bill’s maternity benefits, which guarantees all lactating and pregnant women 6,000 rupees per pregnancy – a sign that the government recognises the importance of breastfeeding and the right to food for infants less than six months old. Despite rapid economic growth, many of India’s citizens still suffer from poor health. Malnutrition is more common in India than in Sub-Saharan Africa. India ranked 65 out of 79 countries on the 2012 Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute. Indian government figures show that 48 per cent of children younger than five years old are small for their age, indicating
that half the country’s children are chronically malnourished. About 50 per cent of all childhood deaths are attributed to malnutrition. The bill will cover almost two-thirds of India’s population – 75 per cent of those in rural areas and 50 per cent in the cities. Supporters of the scheme welcome the fact that the right to food has become a political issue. “Making access to certain basic foods a legal entitlement is a great leap towards tackling hunger. It’s a chance we cannot miss,” says the Right to Food Campaign, an informal organisation of NGOs. All this sounds good in theory. However, some experts are sceptical that the new bill will fulfil its promise.
Food prices are unbelievable. I can’t afford to buy onions any more IRANTI BIHOR
It is widely seen as a populist move by a government desperate to retain power. The project was launched amid much self-congratulation by the ruling Congress Party, which is banking on the scheme to guarantee a victory in next year’s general election. Full-page ads in newspapers displayed cascading wheat and rice and wholesome looking families beaming with satisfaction. Critics say that, under the current government-owned Public Distribution System, about 400 million Indians who are already meant to receive subsidised grain (though not as cheaply as under the new scheme) never get it because 40 per cent of it – according to the government’s own statistics – is siphoned off due to corruption.
Much of what remains is wasted because the distribution system is so inefficient. Mountains of wheat and rice go rotten every year. How, ask critics, will this scheme be any different? Two other important aspects – safe drinking water and sanitation – are not tackled by the bill. Lack of clean water is a big cause of malnutrition because of the gastro-intestinal diseases it causes. “Malnutrition needs to be tackled by adding vitamins and minerals to this cheap grain. But in any case, the government needs to address other basic causes of malnutrition, such as poor water supply, sanitation, and public health education,” says Harminder Verma, development economist at Punjab University. Iranti and Amit Bihor seem like perfect beneficiaries of the scheme. The couple, with two young children, arrived in the Indian capital a few months ago to escape the poverty of their village in the forests of Jharkhand where farming is difficult because of a lack of water. No other jobs are available because the nearest town is an eight-hour bus ride away. Having rented a hovel to house his family in Jasola, New Delhi, Amit now works as a cook in a guest house. Iranti is waiting to hear if she has a job at the nearby Apollo Hospital as a bed assistant, someone who wheels patients from one room to another. The family manages to stave off hunger, but only just. “Food prices are unbelievable. I can’t afford to buy onions any more. The cheapest rice I can buy is 22 rupees a kilo,” says Iranti. Her face lights up when told about the new scheme, but drops when she hears you must have the Below the Poverty Line card to be eligible. She says: “When we applied, the government official demanded 10,000 rupees as a bribe. We didn’t have the money.”
Rice will be subsidised under a new Indian scheme to combat malnutrition. Photo: AP