Marcel Dicke’s TED talk about eating insects was truly remarkable. His message was clear, that there are numerous benefits to eating insects. From this, he elaborates on what some of these benefits are, mainly four benefits. He says that eating insects is better for human health, that they are more sustainable to eat, they are better for the environment, and that they provide similar nutritional values compared to meat. He elaborates on these ideas more throughout his talk, but I won’t spoil it all.
His presentation was very strong, and the main thing that made his presentation unique was that he had a video in his presentation of people actually demonstrating his words. This video showed a pastry chef making chocolates with insects. The idea of using a video seemed great, as the people watching this actually get a sense of the reality of his ideas. Another thing that aided his presentation was that he admitted that this wasn’t some radical new idea. He said, “eighty percent of the world already eats insects.” This admits that he’s may be preaching the idea of eating insects, but he didn’t come up with it. Also, he provides comic relief in his presentation. One instance of this is towards the end. He says, “If the insects die out, we will soon die out as well. If we die out, the insects will continue very happily.” This is funny, yet true, and I think it is very meaningful. Comedy is an effective thing to use when giving a long presentation because it makes you think about the joke and why it’s funny, which draws focus to the actual presentation. Though his presentation was very well, the ideas he preached were incredible.
His ideas to me, were extremely eye opening, especially when he says all around the world, over one thousand different species of insects are being consumed. The variety that exists if we began to eat insects would be extraordinary. People would be able to last at least 2 years never eating the same insect twice. But with livestock, all we can eat is chicken, cows, and pigs. Sure there is some species diversity in these categories, but not as much. As an aspiring chef, this is important. There are about 15 different spices in my cupboard which can be made into over one hundred flavor combinations. But if chefs were to use insects, they would have an extreme variety of texture and taste, which could make the culinary world explode.
These ideas also relate to the world, more so, developed societies. In these societies, because the citizens are wealthier, they consume more animal proteins (mainly livestock, fish and game), around 55 more kilograms per person per year then developing societies. If these societies were to introduce more insects into their diets, then many of the animal proteins we already eat can be replaced by insects. As Dicke says, “Of all animal species 80% walk on 6 legs.” Eighty percent of the animals on our world are insects, so there is clearly an abundance of them that we could eat. This also relates to population increase. Dicke says that in 2050, the population will increase to around 9 million people. And with this, the demand for meat will increase too, as developing countries increase their demands for meat. With this increase in demand, people will have to cut down meat consumption, and to replace some of this there is the option of eating insects, which are widely available around the world. To end, Dicke says, “We have to get used to the idea of eating insects.”
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