In the coming decades, the world population will reach 10 billion people. Even if, according to some scientists, this is the maximum that will be reached, and then there will be a very rapid population decline, which, they say, will soon begin in Asia and Latin America, these changes are slow in time. It is difficult to understand what 10 billion people mean for the Earth. This is an unimaginable number in relation to his energy and nutritional needs. An amount that cannot be covered by traditional animal husbandry, farming, and fishing.

For ten years, the World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has run programs to encourage large-scale farming of insects, a cheap to produce and, above all, environmentally friendly food. They require less space, little water and feed to grow—two kilograms of feed produces one kilogram of insects, and eight kilograms of feed requires one kilogram of beef.

As additional arguments to put them on our plate, the high content of proteins, fats and trace elements, as well as their great taste, is given. I don’t want to swallow you, I have never tasted an insect, but it is a favorite snack of many people in Africa, Asia, Latin America. Perhaps one of the 1,000 or so edible insects on the market comes close to my dietary taste.

However, no matter how delicious they are, which I have no reason to doubt, food is a memory. It comes from the past, from the hands of mother and grandmother, from large family tables, it is traditions, habits, it is a key component of our cultural identity, deep emotion and love. To do everything in my power to help the planet, but sorry, grasshoppers, beetles, grasshoppers, worms and ants, thank you, I won’t take it. May the next generations grow up with delicious insects… “A grasshopper a day will save you from the doctor”!