Bugs: Would you try eating them?

    What Ackerman refers to as “a trial or a test,” taste is an incredibly social sense. Similar to touch, we have to be physically close to things to taste them. We use expressions like “breaking bread” and “earning our daily bread” in ways beyond the literal food meanings, that is, to share with others and make a living, respectively. Building off of our conversation from last class, I noticed in this section of the book, Ackerman almost immediately dives right in to the connection between food and sex. She explains, among other things, that many foods were considered aphrodisiacs because of their resemblance to various genitalia. Personally, I’m not sure I completely buy into Ackerman’s beliefs on how everything is related back to sex. Sure, I think some of what she says is true, but I also think she might be reaching a bit too far and confirming her own feelings of her sexuality. There are so many different experiences of food, sexuality, and asexuality that I would not want to generalize in the way that Ackerman does. That being said, I also recognize that Ackerman wrote this book in 1991, and since then, there have been many changes in how we view romance, sexuality, and gender.

    On a slightly (very) different note, something that piqued my interest while reading was Ackerman’s brief discussion of cultural and geographical differences when it comes to what foods we find acceptable and not acceptable to eat. She references a Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch about chocolate-covered frogs, but I’d like to draw attention to the consumption of bugs and insects. Eating things like crickets and ants is not considered an option here in the U.S. whereas in many places around the world, it’s completely normal. I recently started watching the new Netflix show Getting Curious With Jonathan Van Ness, where the iconic Queer Eye star explores various fields, talking to experts about their specialties. In the first episode (“Are Bugs Gorgeous or Gross?”) Van Ness interviews experts to learn about the importance of bugs in biodiversity, agriculture, and of course, food. Van Ness, and author and TV host Padma Lakshmi, try a variety of insect cuisine, including a cream of mushroom and cricket soup. They talk about the environmental impacts of eating bugs and how producing insects uses a significantly less amount of water and land than producing meat. This part was particularly interesting to me because I could see a clear positive impact of destigmatizing eating insects, as it would provide an alternative source of protein that is better for the environment and possibly more accessible for people around the globe. I’ll link the trailer to the show below; I highly recommend it!