I grew up in rural Mississippi, and one of my favorite treats were these dried meal worms covered in bright orange cheesy powder. We called them "cheese grubs." I never really worried about the idea of eating bugs, since everyone around me thought they were just the best treat. That's social norms for you, I guess.
Now, you can even buy them on Amazon, and I've bought a couple packages for the nostalgia factor. They even come in BBQ flavor! Incredible.
I think that reducing the stigma around eating bugs would be beneficial for us as a society, as it would afford us more affordable, complete proteins. But at least in the states (outside of my tiny bubble), the ICK! factor is still too high.
Oh wow, I was aware that cultures in other parts of the world ate insects, but it's cool to know that this is a thing in (parts of) America, too... I admit that I'd be queasy about it unless I saw a few other people do it but eating insects is interesting to me
As for reducing the ick factor, there is a company that's making cricket flour chips - they grind crickets into flour and make chips out of them. https://chirpschips.com/ or can find "chirp chips" on amazon - it totally takes the ick factor out and makes for conversation topic as well!
Hi motordrive! Thanks so much for the link! I don't think cricket flour chips count as vegetarian...but I will definitely be promoting the idea of products like these as a great replacement for traditional meat! And an excellent conversation starter as well!