International Food News:

Ever snacked on a grasshopper? Or a scorpion? Not even a cricket?

If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then you’ll be glad to know that insect based food is now a thing!

Some major European retailers have started to stock and sell edible, insect based food. Just last month Carrefour started stocking edible insect-based products like spicy chilli buffalo worms and energy bars made from dark chocolate and crickets from a company called Jimini's in its Spanish stores and this month SOK – one of Finland's largest supermarket groups – rolled out products from UK-based edible insect food brand Eat Grub in 400 of its stores.
Eating insects is not really a new phenomenon. People from Thailand, Mexico and South East Asia have been doing it for thousands of years, while there are parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan who even some scorpions!

The popularity of this new variety of snacks is being fueled by customers becoming aware of how much more resource efficient it is while being just as nutritional. For instance, the FAO estimates "crickets need six times less feed than cattle, four times less than sheep, and twice less than pigs and broiler chickens to produce the same amount of protein". They also emit fewer greenhouse gases and ammonia than conventional livestock and they can be grown on organic waste.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind trying it out a couple of times, but it definitely won’t become a daily snack. What are your thoughts on this? And would you lie this idea to come to India? Maybe some Tandoori flavored crickets?