This insect ice cream may make you scream

Insects blended with delicious strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream are redefining the need to secure the future of sustainable and cheap high-protein food.

A passerby and the manager of the insect ice cream cart in conversation. Source: SBS Punjabi

I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M

E-N-T-O-M-O-P-H-A-G-Y

The former needs no introduction while the latter needs much more than that. Isn’t it Greek to most of us? Well, quite literally so, as the etymology of ‘entomophagy’ is Greek. A combination of this and ice cream was served in Melbourne throughout this week. But what is the mumbo-jumbo all about?

Entomophagy is the practice of using insects as food. Before you squirm and scream at this, you would do well to know that a large part of the world considers insects a delicacy, and has been doing so since time immemorial, hence the origin of the ‘entomophagy’ is in ancient Greece.

This week, Melbourne was introduced to the “future of food” in the form of ice cream blended with insects by the reputed global weekly, The Economist.  This social experiment, which began on February 19 at Monash University in Clayton, was an attempt by The Economist to stir up a conversation in Australia about the future of food, following an article titled “Bugs in the system”, which it published in 2014. The Economist took its ice cream cart to QV, State Library of Victoria, RMIT University and Flinders Street Station also during each day of the week.

SBS Punjabi went to Flinders Street Station on Friday to see how passersby would react to the offer of free ice cream albeit spiked with creep-crawly insects.

Luca Di Falco, a 20 something, is a Swiss student studying English in Melbourne. He, like other people, got magnetised by the “free ice cream” signs and walked up to The Economist’s ice cream cart.  He asked for Nutritious Neapolitan with mixed insect critters in strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream. And he seemed completely unfazed by the creep-crawly creatures studded in dollops of creamy goodness bursting with flavour. “It seems interesting. I like trying new food. I knew insects will be a new source of protein in the future,” said Luca.  But didn’t he feel disgusted about eating these ugly insects that are considered dirty? “There’s nothing disgusting in eating insects. They are actually delicious. If you don’t tell people that this ice cream has insects, their crunch and saltiness will easily pass off for nuts,” he argued.

Apart from Nutritious Neapolitan, the other flavours on offer were: Scurry-Berry (blueberry and raspberry ice cream with insect bits), Choc Hopper (smooth chocolate ice cream with grasshopper chunks) and Strawberries and Swirls (fresh strawberry ice cream with cream and mealworm swirls).

Another student, Irene Manzana, from Italy gave out a laugh when she realised the “free ice cream” was actually more than just ice cream. Then she seemed to reason it out when she said: “I’ve watched documentaries on entomophagy. It informed that insects are an alternative source of protein.” The article mentioned that insects are made of 65 per cent protein, which is thrice that  the percentage in beef.

While the number of people who were willing to try out this unique ice cream infused with insects, there was an equal number of those who were fazed by it. Bikram Singh, like Irene and many others, also came for some freebies. But when he realised what was on offer, he squarely refused to even come near it.

Peter Rynsaardt, Event Manager, Experiential Marketing with The Economist, told SBS Punjabi this social experiment is an extension of the article published in the magazine about the future of food vis-à-vis food security and sustainability. “We have served 700-1,000 samples of insect ice cream each day this week in the CBD. People saunter in allured by the ‘free ice cream’ signs. But when they get to know what kind of ice cream we have on offer, they stop and think. That is exactly what we want to do: bring our content alive and challenge people to think out of the box,” he said adding that a lot of people who are squeamish about eating insects at the start are often those from cultures who are big on eating them. He added that a Thai lady refused to try the ice cream because she “had left Thailand due to the cuisine rich in insects.” The article supports Rynsaardt’s experience as Thailand already has 20,000 cricket farms. It also states that some dishes made with insects are becoming fashionable in trendy restaurants of the world frequented by epicureans.

The ice cream was manufactured  by Melbourne-based Bianco Latte.

 

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