Insects as Human Food

Abstract

It has been known for many centuries that insects are eaten as delicacies in many parts of the world. Reports have come down from antiquity of insects, especially locusts, being eaten by primitive peoples. Honey has been known as a prized food from time immemorial. Yet entomophagy, apart from honey consumption, has always been regarded as a curiosity or as barbarism. Although a number of recent authors such as Netolitzky (1918/20), Bequaert (1921), Hardy et Righet (1933), Gourou (1947) and others have hinted at the actual and potential nutritive value of insects for primitive man, the present writer began his study a few years ago largely out of curiosity. It is actually astonishing that the real and basic importance of insects as food for early and primitive man has been so long ignored. One of the main reasons is that a fuller understanding of the requirements of a well-balanced diet and of its necessary vitamin content, over and above the mere calorific value of food, has only been gained in our days. The French Colonial Service has played a leading role in investigating the actual diet of tropical peoples, followed by those of the British and Dutch empires.