The article reviewed for this paper was posted on Natural News online portal on the 7th of September 2014. The title of the article is “United Nations: Eating insects is good for health, can create job opportunities” and it was written by Michelle Raw, a natural health researcher.
Summary
The author of the article explores the advantages of the addition of insect-based products into the diet of contemporary Americans. Raw notes that insects are extremely healthy and nutritious food sources. The author emphasizes that insects are very rich in protein and iron; besides, some species could replace milk according to their calcium content (Raw par. 7, 10). The author adds that the United Nations currently have a list including 1900 kinds of edible insects.
The organization plans to raise public interest in insect-based products and their flavors. Raw also maintains that farming and consumption of insects is cheaper and more eco-friendly than farming animals and poultry for food. Besides, it would lead to new job creation opportunities.
Finally, the author reviews ideas concerning the introduction of insect-based products to the Western society which include the production of bars containing exoskeleton, using the name “sky prawns” for locusts, and creating cricket chips called “Chirps” (Raw par. 9, 11).
Response
In my opinion, the article is very futuristic and progressive. The contemporary world inevitably moves towards the exhaustion of its natural resources, which currently is one of the most frequently discussed ecological issues. This is why the search for new resources and eco-friendly methods of their acquisition is rather popular. Insects are known to be a healthy source of protein and other nutrients necessary for a balanced diet of human beings. This makes them a highly promising future food source.
At the same time, while the theory is screaming about the use of edible insects, the practical introduction of this food source stumbles upon the extremely negative attitude towards insects in the West. The vast majority of Americans is disgusted by insects and would refuse even to touch them, let alone consume them as a meal. Insects are generally perceived as dirty, unsanitary, ugly and scary.
As for the job creation opportunity, insect farming for sure would add some vacancies to the labor market, but we must not forget that if insects become a popular food source, many animal farms could go out of business and increase the national unemployment rates. Besides, farming insects do not require much effort.
Insects breed very quickly and do not need any particular care. Insect-farms in Asia just contains multiple huge tanks with insects and a couple of workers keeping an eye on them. This way, insect farming does not seem to have a chance to become a well-paid career field.
Finally, I agree that farming insects are an eco-friendly practice, but transforming them into products appreciated by the Western consumers might not be as safe. Eating insects is convenient in Asia, where they are fried with the addition of spices and sold right in the streets. In the West, processing, shaping, packing and adding various flavors to the insect-based products is likely to become as environmentally harmful as making modern candy.
In conclusion, I chose this article because the subject of using insects and food source is fascinating to me. The article has made me hopeful that the introduction of insects as a food source in the West actually might happen during my lifetime. In my opinion, it is time for the Western people to become open-minded and stop being unreasonably disgusted or terrified of these tiny creatures.
Works Cited
Raw, Michelle. United Nations: Eating insects is good for health, can create job opportunities. 2014. Web.