- Title: Looking for low-cost and highly nutritious? Go for insects!
- Date: 1st October 2019
- Summary: SARCHI, ALAJUELA, COSTA RICA (RECENT) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS, INSECT FOOD PROPONENT, GABRIELA SOTO, IN FORESTED AREA LOOKING FOR INSECTS LEAF-CUTTER ANTS ON GROUND SOTO HOLDING ANT SOTO WALKING INTO FOREST ANTS VARIOUS, SOTO COOKING INSECTS IN PAN VARIOUS, SOTO SERVING INSECTS FROM DISHES VARIOUS, SOTO, HER HUSBAND, FEDERICO PANIAGUA, AND THEIR DAUGHTER EATING INSECTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIVERSITY OF COSTA RICA BIOLOGIST AND HEAD OF THE UNIVERSITY'S INSECT MUSEUM, FEDERICO PANIAGUA, SAYING: "Yes, insects are definitely delicious. You can sit and watch a soap opera, watch the football game, do any activity with a plate full of insects. Eat them one by one, with a glass of soda, any beverage you like, they'll go down well. They are going to taste like potato chips, you can basically eat a whole plate of these insects." VARIOUS, MEALWORMS BEING SEPARATED WITH COLANDER INSECTS IN EGG SHELL CRATE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIVERSITY OF COSTA RICA BIOLOGIST AND HEAD OF THE UNIVERSITY'S INSECT MUSEUM, FEDERICO PANIAGUA, SAYING: "So, we live in times where many grains that are cultivated like soy, sorghum, wheat and corn are to feed livestock that we will use later. So, it's not a very ecological system. Livestock raising is a system that has its environmental consequences. Insects, the raising of insects and the use of insect protein has those advantages." VARIOUS, PANIAGUA TEACHING STUDENTS INSECTS IN BOX PANIAGUA WITH INSECTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIVERSITY OF COSTA RICA STUDENT, VANESSA ROJAS, SAYING: "Yes, I would eat them. Nevertheless you see the cricket and maybe you're a little wary when you see its legs, but I think you can dare yourself to eat them. Worms and crickets are nourishing so there's no reason to be afraid to eat them." VARIOUS, SOTO EATING INSECTS FAMILY EATING INSECTS
- Embargoed: 15th October 2019 23:25
- Keywords: insects Costa Rica food bugs nutrition
- Location: SARCHI, ALAJUELA, COSTA RICA
- City: SARCHI, ALAJUELA, COSTA RICA
- Country: Costa Rica
- Topics: Living / Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001AZ9PTTZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: At his home in rural Costa Rica, biologist Federico Paniagua joined his family at the dining table to devour several types of insects that he raised on his farm and whose flavor he compares to potato chips.
The head of the University of Costa Rica's Insects Museum decided three years ago to replace animal protein in his diet with crickets, ants, cockroaches, beetles and other insects - and wants to encourage others to do the same.
"Insects are delicious," he said in an interview at his farm in Sarchi, about 30 miles (50 km) from the capital San Jose.
"You can sit and watch a soap opera, watch the football game, do any activity with a plate full of insects. Eat them one by one, with a glass of soda... they'll go down well," said Paniagua.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has counted more than 1,900 insect species that are edible.
Especially in Asia and in Africa, the tiny creatures are touted as delicacies packed with vitamins, minerals and energy.
Their proponents also note that bugs emit fewer greenhouse gases and less ammonia than cattle or pigs and require significantly less land and water than cattle.
Paniagua's wife, Gabriela Soto, prepared their meal by splashing oil in a frying pan, adding the farm-raised insects and topping them off with a dash of salt.
She then brought out several dishes to her young daughter, who reached into a plate with her hands and munched fearlessly, and husband, who suggested a bit of lemon would enhance their flavor.
"They are going to taste like potato chips, you can eat basically a whole plate of these insects," Paniagua said.
(Production: Hector Guzman, Josue Gonzalez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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