I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Most of the countries that we visited where people eat bugs have a very long history of doing so. It's not something new that's come up as a trendy food. Peter Menzel is the photographer and author of Man Eating Bugs, a book which looks at the different cultures around the world where insects form a regular part of the diet. Peter and co-author Faith D'Alusio visited some thirteen countries, from Venezuela to Indonesia, collecting recipes and exploring the relationship between culture and food.
Insects are a very important source of protein for a lot of people in the world.
They're readily available. There's no farming of them in most cases. They're right out their back door or in their fields. In a lot of cases they're a bridge food for people between crops. We witnessed it in a lot of places where hunter gatherers still do hunting and gathering.