The University of British Columbia (UBC) will be having four teams of Faculty of Land and Food Systems students engage in a bug culinary showdown on Tuesday. “This competition is the culmination of my applied biology course ‘Insects as Food and Feed,’ where we spent the semester learning about the benefits and risks of eating and using insects,” said UBC entomology instructor Yasmin Akhtar in a Monday press release. “One of my goals is to reduce the negative perceptions people may have of eating bugs.”Akhtar called this competition “a fun way to raise awareness among students about the nutritional value of insects, their role in sustainable food systems and the importance of considering alternative protein sources.”In this competition, UBC said students will showcase bug dishes that are delicious, nutritious and environmentally friendly. It added esteemed judges will weigh in on the taste, texture and ingenuity of the dishes. While bugs are tasty, Akhtar said there are two main benefits to eating them. The first benefit is many bugs are nutritious, as they are high in protein, calcium, good fatty acids and vitamins. For example, Mexican grasshopper species Sphenarium purpurascens contain 48 grams of protein per 100 grams, compared to 27 grams of protein per 100 grams of beef. The second benefit is environmental. Rearing insects requires less space, fewer resources such as water and less feed. If people are wary of eating insects whole, she said they can incorporate insect flours and powders into their diets. People can purchase insect flour online and replace wheat flour in any recipe with it for tasty, high-protein baked products such as muffins or as filling in samosas. She added barbecuing insects is another great option, as it absorbs flavour well and drys them out to become crunchy. Her favourite is barbecuing crickets. Since some insects live in gross environments, she said they can be infested with microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and other viruses. Like other animal proteins, she said they should be treated before they are consumed by using heat to boil or cook them. The event will start on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at Vij’s Kitchen Room 130 2205 East Mall. If people capture insects from the wild, Akhtar said they “need to be aware that they may be contaminated with pesticides that were used to spray fruits and vegetables.”“A better option would be purchase them from insect farms, where they are safely raised to be used as food,” she said. A North American food processing facility announced in 2022 it will produce about two billion crickets for human and pet consumption per year after completing construction of the world's largest cricket production facility.READ MORE: North American food processing facility to produce two billion crickets a year for human consumptionAspire Food Group said its completed facility will produce 9,000 metric tonnes of crickets every year and that it has orders for the next two years. Aspire said crickets are rich in fibre and have a smaller environmental footprint compared to traditional protein sources.
