Up scale Vancouver restaurant adds bugs to menue!
By barehugs
@barehugs (8973)
Canada
July 5, 2008 1:32pm CST
VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - The owners of Vij's restaurant knew they were taking a huge gamble when they decided to add bugs to the menu of their upscale, internationally-known Vancouver eaterie.
"Eating bugs is a foreign concept in North America," co-owner Meeru Dhalwala told AFP. "People here think bugs are dirty. There's a yuck factor."But gram for gram, experts say insects are more nutritious to eat and better for the environment to produce than popular foods such as beef and chicken.
And so for mostly ecological reasons, Dhalwala and her husband Vikram Vij -- who describe themselves as both environmentalists and "food experts" -- decided to introduce crickets on their new summer menu at the restaurant, which specializes in Punjab-influenced Indian food.~ ~ ~
While visiting Laos in Feb./07 cousins of my daughter-in-law ate deep-fried maggots instead of candy. We did not participate but the Maggots looked delicious. Its all a matter of getting past the thought of it! Would you consider bugs/worms as a substitute for red meat if red meat becomes scarce or outrageously expensive?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@twallace (2675)
• United States
5 Jul 08
When you think about it at the rate that meat, veggies, and other products that we purchase in the food market everyday. Are now contaminated with something, bugs will end up being the next meat on the market. There are plenty of them for sure. But getting past the thought of eating bugs is the problem. I know it would really be hard for me to eat them that is for sure. I would rather eat fruit and veggies first before eating bugs. Just the thought of them alone is hard to get past. But in some countries they are a main source of food. But not for me.
2 people like this
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
5 Jul 08
NO NO NO, No way would i ever eat a bug if i knew it.I would not even eat at a place that served them if i knew it....I think bugs are meant to be eaten by small animals and thats why they are here,and not for humans...The entire thing seems to just gross me out..YUCK!
2 people like this
@whittby (3072)
• United States
6 Jul 08
I've heard this before and it makes sense to me nutritionally too. I just can't get past the yuck factor. I've seen a couple shows on tv where they were cooking the little buggers and then eating them and insisting how good they taste. I think it we were brought up with these in out diet, it would be different and acceptable. I would have to be pretty hungry.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
6 Jul 08
barebugs the hype may be right but just sitting here thinking
about eating crickets and maggots has made my tummy cramp'up and I actu ally feel nauseated too. yuck factor my foot, we have spent years telling people that crickets and bugs and roachs and maggots carry germs and spread diseases so now we eat them, no no way Jose not this person. I will go vegan first before eating bugsor worms or grasshoppers. deep fried anything is not my idea of something healthy either. too much oil, yuck,yuck,yuck.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
8 Jul 08
I can see no difference in eating cows or crickets. The germs you speak of are so tiny you have to look at them under a microscope. There are a variety of delicious cooking methods for insects, or you could just crunch them down in the Raw. If the price of fuel keeps going up there's going to be a lot of insects eaten. People will eat anything before they die of starvation!
