Nim's Island

A scientist and his young daughter live on an island paradise but in the shadow of a volcano. Nim, the young girl, has all sorts of unlikely friends; she pays soccer with a sea lion, talks to lizards and is rescued by a pelican. Besides having adventures with her animal friends at her exotic home she spends a lot of her time reading about the world's greatest adventurer, Alex Rover. The author of these adventure books is an agoraphobe who dosen't leave the house but finds herself trying to find Nim's island when the little girl finds herself in big trouble and all alone.

Nim's father's favorite meal on the island is one that has "freshly dug up meal worms" but later when Alexandra Rover is offered some food with the worms in it she has a reaction that one might think would probably be closer to the majority of the population. The fact is that the act of entomophagy, or insect eating, isn't all that rare even today. There is much evidence to suggest that people from 9000 to 30000 bce ate insects as a protein source but there are cultures where insect eating is still going on today. Some commonly eaten insects include ants, crickets, grasshoppers, grubs, and spiders. Many of these insects are prepared by frying them and making them into cruncy, salty treats. There are many advantages to having an insect based diet, their impact on the environment is crucial but if they are raised for human consumption we wouldn't have to remove them from their natural habitat. Also insects reproduce at a much higher rate then that of an animal and use up to 44% of the food they ingest. Animals only use 10% of the food they eat which means that insects use less energy and feed to produce as much or more food then our current animal sources.

I have never eaten an insect, well never willingly that is (studies do show that we eat about 12 insects a year while we sleep) so I do not have any recipes that include them. Maybe you're no longer in the mood to eat but I would definately try this Spring Lamb Stew I bet you could add some ants for extra protein. Enjoy!

Spring Lamb Stew

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds lamb stew meat
Salt and pepper
4 Carrots cut into 3 inch sticks
1 onion sliced
1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 Cup dry white wine
2 Cups low sodium chicken broth
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
4 ounces green beans, cut into small pieces
1 Cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot over medium heat. Season lamb with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally, until medium rare and transfer to a plate. Add the carrots, onion, and the remaining oil to the pot, then add the flour, add the wine and scrape up any brown bits. Add broth, tomatoes, and beans. Simmer until vegetables are tender then stir in the lamb, parsley, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.