Photo: Courtesy of Instagram/@AntojeriaPopular.
Remember when you used to swallow a little bug by accident as a child, and your dad would be all, "It's protein! It's good for you!" Well, he wasn't kidding. Take, for example, the grasshopper, which is making serious strides in the cuisine department. Low in calories and containing about 29 percent of your daily protein, the insect has become a diet staple for about two billion people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. And, though our initial reaction to eating a grasshopper is a bit wary, the little guys are creeping their way into Western dishes. Grasshopper tacos are now a menu item at places in New York like Toloache and Antojeria La Popular (also serving up cricket tacos, if you're game).
Before you swear off little bug sandwiches, consider the growing concerns about raising livestock in the U.S. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, production of livestock meat can do more environmental harm than an automobile (think: emissions). So, if cheeseburgers as we know them were one day extinct (we are literally praying to the cheeseburger gods right now that this doesn't ever happen), would you be able to stomach this alternative form of sustenance?
Of course, insects are just one of many foods that offer alternative nutrition options for our ever-changing needs. There's also musical salt and sugar (no, seriously), kelp, and the 3-D-printed noodles. Check out the full list (which kind of reads like a Fear Factor rerun) and maybe start taking notes on what may one day fill your pantry — whether you like it or not. (Health Land)