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ABC News: Insects - food of the future?

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Man eats insect from plate with chopsticks
ABC News: Insects - food of the future?

SUBJECTS:  Geography, Health and Physical EducationScience

YEARS:  3–4


Did you know that one-third of the world's population consumes edible insects?

Although insects are known to be a good source of protein, some people may need more convincing.

In this clip, hear from a professor who has recently written a cookbook to help people get the most out of bugs!


Things to think about

  1. 1.How are insects different from other animals? Many insects are safe for humans to eat, but not all of them. Which ones do you think would be safe? Why might people choose to eat insects? Insects aren't commonly eaten in Australia. Why not? Could this change?
  2. 2.What reasons does Professor Marcel Dicke give for using insects as an alternative to meat? Watch the ways that people cook and eat insects during the clip. Does the professor advise people to go out and catch insects for their dinner? Listen to what he says about how 'rearing' insects for protein is more efficient than rearing cows and pigs for protein.
  3. 3.How does the professor support the idea that insects are an 'energy efficient' food source? For insects to become a major food source they will need to be farmed. How might farming insects and animals like sheep and cows be the same, and how might it be different? What arguments might convince more Australians that it is safe and nutritious to eat certain insects?
  4. 4.Design a way to convince Australians to eat more insects. Use this clip to help you. Include a tempting traditional recipe from a culture that sees eating insects as part of normal life.



Date of broadcast: 14 May 2013


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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