Nerd Pride Radio

If some of the people who think we will have to adjust our protein consumption habits are correct, and I'm not sure they are correct but it's just amusing to think about, would you rather become a bug eater for protein or a vegetarian? Let's assume that they'll be able to find preparations of bugs that don't involve just crunching them straight down exoskeleton and all, but it will be more like a frozen black bean burger, or some kind of bugs compressed and artificially flavored to be like salad bacos. Cool? Lobsters are like an insect of the ocean. Other shellfish too. Yet many people would find those less disgusting than eating bugs.

I find it odd that there's something about eating an animal that is appealing, but not too appealing such that you would want it as your pet! On the other hand, there's something to be said for doing battle against the evil Kingdom of things like wasps by destroying them all as food products. That kind of works against the whole idea of having more sustainable food... The lure would be in making it totally unsustainable because there would be no more wasps.

Anyway I spend most of my time around people who are either vegans, vegetarians, or trying to become vegetarian, and it's slowly chipping away at whatever will power was allowing me to cook meats. Much as in pregnancy I found meat too disgusting to deal with, I now find myself unable to go on with meat very easily. Yet could I go on with bugs?

I'd go vegetarian before I'd go bug. But I'm not going full veg any time soon; I like meat. I've just tried to cut back on how much of it I eat.

Either one is fine. I don't have a compunction about eating animals, as long as they're not cute ones. Cute animals should only be killed for the purpose of taxidermy.

I read an interesting debate about vegans the other day that I was unaware of. Do you know that there's a heated disagreements about whether vegans can eat honey? Apparently some people are like, "Yeah, of course you can. It's a beneficial natural byproduct" and others are like, "You're exploiting bees!"

Either.

Bugs: If prepared properly... most likely by somebody else... sure...

Veggie: I already eat about half veggie now, since my daughter is a vegetarian and my wife cooks food for the whole family about half the time. (Though my daughter is adding fish back into her diet for an extra protean source, so she is technically now a pescetarian.)

I think meat reduction is a more viable diet for most people. I've had some burgers that are half ground beef/half mushrooms and those were pretty good. Black Bean Burgers on the other hand smell like a wet fart wrapped in a wetter fart so yea. I'm ok with reducing my meat intake but I don't think I could ever go full veggie.

Wrote eating bugs into a screenplay a little while back. It was supposed to be normal, not post apocalyptic, which is how I think many of those adjustments will be made.

There is already, horrifyingly, a Soylent company. Just like most people have no idea how many cute animals might be in their burgers - presently none, of course....right? - The larger market will have no idea about the actual sources of our future protein.

Instant decision? Bugs, depending on what kind and what they eat, just like my choices for other animal protein. I generally don't eat creatures that eat other creatures, or subsist primarily on refuse. Fishes, because of the weirdly gray line between creature and plant in the ocean, are a notable exception. Vegetarianism might be nifty, but I don't think we're sustainably engineered for it. It's likely a healthier option today because of all the chemistry that we pile into the food chain. Lower concentrations appearing in some plants makes them less poisonous than industrial meat.

Terrestrial bugs? Pass.

Aquatic bugs? I could give up beef entirely for shrimp. I don't eat a lot of beef as it is, maybe one or two meals a week feature beef prominently.

I'd happily add crayfish and prawns to my diet as well.