It turns out that food could be in for a significant overhaul. No, we’re not talking about magical food-filled tablets or holographic meals - we mean insects. That’s right; it turns out that eating insects could save the planet.

On The Menu

Believe it or not, but it’s thought that more than 2 billion people already eat insects all around the world. In fact, they are a local delicacy in many countries, with everything from fried crickets to candied tarantulas on the menu. Now, it looks as though eating insects could be the answer to help save the planet.

Creating Their Experiment

The University of Teramo in Italy decided to investigate. They collected a range of edible insects and removed the stingers, paws, and wings from all their samples. Then, they ground down the creatures to study just what is found in these insects - and how they could become a part of our diet.

Their Findings

Amazingly, the team discovered that the vegetarian insects, the silkworms, crickets, and grasshoppers, were the stars of the show. In fact, the insects held more antioxidant levels than a glass of orange juice. The giant water bugs, scorpions, and tarantulas placed lower on the rankings.

Other Benefits

It turns out there are plenty of other benefits to eating insects. They are often packed full of vitamins and minerals as well as being a good source of protein. To top it off, industrial agriculture has been blamed as a leading contributor to climate change. Opting for insects could help to cut the world’s carbon footprint.

While eating insects might not be everyone’s idea of a good time, billions of people have been doing it for years, so it can’t be that bad, right? After all, adding these critters to our menu might soon be the best way to save the planet once and for all.