Edible insects are nutritious and some say delicious

LEAD IN : People often see six-legged insects as pests, exotic and something they would never put on their plates...but the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation says some insects are rich in protein and vitamins. With more than 20,000 registered insect farms, Thailand leads to the world's no.1 producer of edible insects. STORY-LINE : They look disgusting but these six-legged creatures are helping impoverished farmers in Thailand earn additional income. Farms in the northeastern Thailand, the country's poorest region, used to rely solely on the rains to either yield a good rice crop, or leave their fields dry and barren. Today they make extra bucks out of bugs. In the province of Nakhon Ratchasima, concrete pens full of crickets are a common sight in the backyard of villager's houses. Crickets munch on chicken feed, pumpkins and other green leaves as farmers fatten them up for harvesting. Boontham Puthachat is one of 30 families in this village raising mounds of the profitable crisp and crunchy critters. He started the business four year ago. While he says he is not rich yet, now he has enough to better take care of his family. "In the past, we earn income only once a year from harvesting rice farm while we can harvest cricket once every two months so it's six times in a year. So it helps us earn more money for the family" he explains. Boontham started his business with a modest capital investment, relatively low-cost input such as cricket feed and little physical labour. He now reaps an annual profit of about $3,000. Boontham says that in the past people depended on rice farming for their source of income but a rice crop can be harvested once a year while crickets can be harvested once every two months. At a Bangkok market thousands of insects lie in heaps ready for sale, from black beetles, crickets, water bugs, and mountain crickets. Oonrueng Boontham, the owner of an edible insect stall in a Bangkok's market, says her products are supplied from insect farmers in the other provinces of the country and are delivered in both dried and fresh forms. Oonrueng says cricket is the best-seller product following by creamy larvae and grasshoppers. Other insects are not so popular. "The best-seller (insects) are crickets, larvae, and grasshopper while others (insects) don't sell well." She says edible insects are expensive but her customers are willing to pay high prices. One kilogram of dried cricket is about $13 while the red ant's egg, an ingredient to make the delicacy omelet, costs around $16 per kilogram. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says insects were traditionally an integral part of human diets in nearly 100 countries, particular in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, with more than 1,600 species consumed. Besides generating extra income, insects have proven nutritious and farming them is easy on the environment, according to a 2013 FAO report. "For many people, it's good, healthy, nutritious food. The amount of protein in insect is equivalent to meat or fish. Insect, depending on species of course, are loaded up with micro-nutritious, vitamins and minerals." says Patrick Durst is a senior FAO official who co-authored a study on Thailand's edible insects industry. Scientists who have studied the nutritional value of edible insects have found that red ants, small grasshoppers and some water beetles pack (gram-per-gram or ounce-per-ounce) enough protein to rank with lean ground beef while having less fat per gram. Six-legged livestock, as the agency calls them, are also easier on the environment than their lesser-legged counterparts. In countries as far apart as Laos and Ghana, projects are underway to combat malnutrition with insect farming. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a62ea6ccd820147a29bc703d24406133 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork