Edible Insect Experts on… Spreading the Word

Brooklyn Bugs 2017 featured fifteen edible insect experts and proponents speaking on a range of relevant topics. They represent a diversity of backgrounds, expertise, and involvement with the field. The following is the seventh in a series of topic-specific articles woven from the threads that ran through their individual talks. The Edible Insect Experts on… the reasons to eat insects.

There are numerous reasons to incorporate insects into our diets. So many that they had to be split into two separate articles (Reasons: Part 1 and Part 2). But despite the plethora of positives, insect cuisine isn’t mainstream. Yet.

There are a number of explanations. It’s new. It’s unfamiliar. Many people still aren’t even aware it exists. And because there is no single reason why, there is also no single solution. Driving the acceptance of and excitement for edible insects requires multiple approaches.

Exposure

Bringing new ideas to people requires visibility. It is important to be doing good work and to be making delicious, nutritious products. But if people don’t know that they exist, then no one benefits.

Media coverage has been a great way of spreading the word of entomophagy. Articles have appeared in countless nationwide outlets that cover news, technology, food, science, business, and more. Alongside national media, local outlets have brought awareness by highlighting events or companies. With each additional article, the topic transitions towards the mainstream.

One of the best ways to broadcast to a larger audience today is through social media. Seginus Farms founder Joseph Skipper is no stranger to this approach. “Use your Instagram. Use your Twitter. Use your Facebook.” And to amplify the message even more, “Don’t forget your hashtags… Your hashtags are how you reach out [beyond your current network].”

As wonderful as new media may be for business, it doesn’t beat the classic and more personal approach. As Skipper has found, “word of mouth is always the biggest thing.”

Vocabulary

As word of mouth spreads, the words used are important. Joseph Yoon, founder of Brooklyn Bugs, laments, “One of the challenging things of trying to introduce people to entomophagy — eating edible insects — is even that word. What a mouthful.” Yoon has advocated for a more food-focused and appealing term to replace ‘entomophagy.’ In the style of vegetarian and pescatarian, he has proposed ‘entorian’ to describe someone who incorporates insects into their diet.

Aly Moore, founder of Eat Bug Events, agreed that language is important. “You don’t eat a pet. You eat livestock, and burgers, and beef. These are words that we have.” She pointed out that our terminology doesn’t stop with animals. “You don’t eat plants, you eat vegetables. We have a very tricky way of naming things that convinces us that these things are edible.”

This is a chorus that several others experts echoed, in words and in practice. Aspire Food Group markets their crickets under the trade name Aketta. Others refer to crickets or grasshoppers as land shrimp (due to their close biological relation).

Words matter. Many people would happily eat spiral-cut ham. Most people would be less excited about chowing down on pig butt.

Education

Introducing a new lexicon is part of a larger topic. One that Dave Gracer feels strongly about. “Education is the key to this subject!”

Some people get excited to try new things simply because they are new, jumping in eagerly. Most people prefer to have a better idea of what they are getting into and why. The reasons behind adoption of insect cuisine have motivated many people to chow down. But between the question of why and the first bite comes education. It can be a short answer, or a longer process. It can be through conversation back and forth. It can be through reading an article (or series of articles) on the topic.

[Author’s note: While writing these articles is something I enjoy because I am passionate about the topic, I am writing them with a purpose. I want to help educate more people about the great things going on with insect cuisine and insect agriculture. I want people to get excited to go out and try insects, and then incorporate insects into their diets.]

Audience

While articles like this are aimed for an older audience, Gracer has found that “having this kind of conversation is so much easier with kids because kids have a little bit less baggage.”

His thoughts were echoed from Jenny Buccos, founder of Project Explorer, an educational program aimed to improve students’ cultural awareness and cross-cultural understanding. “Kids are actually more receptive to this than teachers.”

Western adults mostly don’t eat insects because they were conditioned to believe that insects aren’t food. But that’s a belief or a habit, not an absolute truth. Teaching children about the benefits of eating insects doesn’t go against decades of conditioning. After all, everything is new to a child.

“When you put this to kids as an option and you challenge them to try it with an open mind, they’ll absolutely do it,” Buccos said confidently, speaking from experience.

“I did a session in New Jersey. It was with 40 kids.” When the kids asked where they could find edible insects, Buccos suggested they order them online. Instead of following her easy answer, “they took it upon themselves to advocate to their local grocery store. And their local grocery store is now carrying cricket flour for six months to see how it goes over in the community.”

Though children may be the most receptive age group, most in the industry agree that they should not be the sole audience. After all, Buccos’ story aside, children don’t often make the purchasing decisions in a house.

As important as the discussion of how to entice people to try insects, Moore re-framed the discussion around who to approach.

“I think that we need to refocus not on getting each new person to try an insect… but in finding the people that would already eat insects and then making it easy for this to become a daily part of their lives. That’s where we need to start. Not change the stigma. Not change the population. But change the accessibility in the livelihoods of a very small group of people.”

This approach would help change the image of edible insects from a novelty food that many people have tried once into a staple food that a few people swear by. It would create a cheerleading section for insects, and hopefully cause a “ripple effect” as they influence those around them.

If the key is finding a small group of people to get solidly on board, where should the industry look? Moore suggests “to look into people who have demonstrated a willingness to investigate new things.” She listed several different possible groups before coming to the most important taste-makers: those that directly make the food we taste. “The chefs are gatekeepers.”

Bringing chefs onboard with insect cuisine has been one of Chef Yoon’s focuses since the inaugural Brooklyn Bugs, as he has continued to work with a number of top-notch chefs. La Newyorkina founder Fany Gerson expressed her excitement at the progress already made. “These amazing ingredients are being embraced by chefs and by people that didn’t grow up in the regions where these things are part of the culture.”

Presentation

With new terminology, all the facts and figures, and an audience, what else is there to do to entice people to try something new?

This is one of the largest debates within the industry, and one that likely won’t ever have a binary answer. Moore layed it out simply and fairly. “We have mixed views here about whether we should Trojan Horse and put bugs in chips or protein bars or whether we should showcase them in all their bugible glory. I found that a mix is great.”

And for those people who may still need a slight nudge, Moore noted a common ingredient that seems to help lower inhibitions — alcohol. At several of her events she has had some patrons refuse insects, adamantly tell her that they were only there to watch. “One or two glasses in, they’re eating all the bugs.”

This echoes what Lucy Knops, co-founder of Critter Bitters, had told me during an in-store product demonstration. She and her partner opted to make cocktail bitters out of crickets because it is simply easier to get people to try insects for the first time if they are having a bit of alcohol.

Moore, whose Eat Bugs Events does exactly what it says, smiled as she revealed that she had recently “migrated into my favorite territory, which is bug and wine pairings. Or bug and brews. And now I’m doing bugs with scotch and tequila.”

Joseph Skipper offered one more suggestion for drawing people in: humor.

He painted the scene of his farmer’s market setup before coming to the last detail. “We had a little sign up there that said ‘Brownie with Benefits.’” Patrons walking by would stop abruptly, raise an eyebrow, and in a hushed voice ask him if he put aspecial ingredient in his brownies.

He paused, glanced around, and then with a nod and smirk exclaimed, “IT’S CRICKETS!”

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