海角大神

Between global warming鈥檚 rising tides and scorching droughts, industrial pollution, and a population predicted to reach 9 billion within the next few decades, keeping all of us fed poses a challenge. Scientists agree that the developed world鈥檚 current diet is unsustainable: our love of meat, in particular, simply requires too much land, grain, and water.

Many researchers say they just might have a solution. Their idea? Entomophagy: eating insects. But the biggest challenge, of course, is convincing consumers to swap meatloaf and bacon for fried mealworms and chocolate-covered crickets.

Charlotte Payne, a researcher at the University of Oxford, may have figured out the recipe for persuasion: storytelling. In an interview with TakePart's聽Sarah McColl, Ms.听Payne, who studies insect-eating cultures around the world, describes how she borrowed the Slow Food movement鈥檚 philosophy of 鈥渢aste education鈥� to entice revelers at Wales鈥� recent Green Man Festival聽.

Once you know the traditions and stories that go into a dish, she told Ms. McColl, "eaters can learn to value the social importance of food 鈥� any food."

Take wasps, for example. Though our normal instinct is to run away and not to pop one in our mouths, wasp-hunting is a Japanese tradition that combines family fun with dinner prep, not so different from clam-digging or fishing. There鈥檚 no guarantee of avoiding stings, of course, but Payne says that element of danger increases the appeal, particularly for some youngsters who need help getting over the 鈥榶uck鈥� factor.

For now, advocates like 鈥淏ug Banquet UK,鈥� who organized the event at Green Man, stick to gentle persuasion. Eventually, however, some scientists caution that, unless we go vegetarian, we may not have a choice about putting larvae or bees on the menu.

As , nearly one-third of all land is dedicated to raising livestock: the cows, pigs, and poultry that have become an ever-increasing percentage of the Western diet.听

The problem? Meat just isn鈥檛 efficient, nutritionally or environmentally. Animals take up more than land; they consume vast amounts of grain and water 鈥� 30 percent of all fresh water, by Time's count 鈥撀爐hat could otherwise nourish people directly. What鈥檚 more, 聽livestock produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

For every ten kilograms of grain (roughly 22 pounds), we have a choice, Bug Banquet claims: 聽With rising oceans decreasing the amount of arable land, and population growth still headed upwards, relying on meat may someday be not just irresponsible, but impossible. Even the UN聽is concerned: worries about food security led them to co-host an 鈥淚nsects to feed the world鈥� conference in 2014, after in 2013. 聽

Understanding the issues, though, can only go so far: for now, consumers need to be persuaded to like bugs, not just grudgingly taste a few. Writing about cricket-flour protein bars in 2013, New Yorker writer Silvia Killingsworth 鈥� the normalization and subsequent integration鈥� of a food other cultures have been enjoying for centuries.听

So, did the Bug Banquet win any converts? The group plans to follow-up with some of its 5,000 taste-testers to see how their views, and diets, shift over time. Payne expresses optimism: compared to several years ago, fewer people think she鈥檚 鈥渃razy,鈥� she told TakePart magazine.听

It鈥檚 a start. As Bug Banquet tells its donors, 鈥渨e hope that more people will be finding a fly in their soup on purpose.鈥�