Bugs, Beef, Belief and Bummed

Doesn’t everybody eat bugs at church?  My church, North River Mills United Methodist, might be called “different”.  A former pastor suggested we might some similarity to the early church described in 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV),  “But ye are …a peculiar people…”  Worship was held at our house.  Terry Lynn loves to feed folks.  Pastor Alanna requested we provide a bug menu in addition to Terry Lynn’s cooking (beef).  There IS a biblical precedent.  Matthew 4 (NIV) tells us ^{4 “}John [the Baptists]’s … food was locusts and wild honey.”  So we gathered, we worshiped, and we broke bread (and bugs.)  When it comes to bugs– at least here in the U.S. “feeding the multitudes is generally not a problem.  I only had I think four of us munching on bug dishes. But I can hope one of those folks will influence somebody else to give bugs a try.  And while by bug dishes may never rival my sweet wife’s cooking, the comments I heard seemed to be positive.  I think pastor Alanna said the bug dishes, “didn’t really taste different from the non bug food.”

I cooked with and displayed products from these companies: Aspire Bitty Foods Bug Eater Foods Chloe’s Treats Crik Nutrition – Cricket Protein Powder , Cricket Flours  Critter Bitters, Entobento Entomarket ,  Exo Protein bars, Hopn Bakery  HOTLIX Candy ,  IncredibleFoods, Jurassic Snacks Inc. Lithic Nutrition, NextMilleniumFarms,   Rainbow Mealworm Facebook Rainbow Mealworms  You can find these and other bug products on this page.

I discussed beliefs (church), bugs and beef.  Now I would like to vent– I am bummed.  I would LIKE to share a couple photos from the S.T.E.M. festival in Keyser, WV.  Susan Parker of the West Virginia Dept. of Agriculture had a great learning station starring bugs.  Her colleague, Chris Campbell, was using all six of his legs to beckon learners to their learning station.  Unfortunately, I can’t show you photos those photos.  To upload the photos on this page I had to drive out of state, to Winchester, VA.  Frontier Communications is my internet [non]service provider.  They and the other powers-that-be feel it is OK to advertise high speed internet, but then not deliver it.  My browser frequently indicates that I am not connected to the internet because the speed is so slow.  I was just told of another company that is relocating from Capon Bridge to Winchester, VA because they cannot operate with Frontier internet service.  Students and business folks who depend on the internet are unfairly  deprived of internet service.  My nephew spoke to the Hampshire County Commission and pointed out that our internet is slower that many third world countries.   If you are interested in this topic, feel free to weigh in on these forums, contact your legislators and county commissioners (or attend their meetings and ask for updates), mobilize and demand a remedy: Facebook discussions:  https://www.facebook.com/steve.bailes2/posts/1442884669057375
https://www.facebook.com/steve.bailes2/posts/1443778525634656

https://www.facebook.com/steve.bailes2/posts/1444264445586064

https://www.facebook.com/steve.bailes2/posts/1463029843709524

https://www.facebook.com/vince.lombardi1/posts/10202624449889677

Broadband Committee : http://www.hampshirewv.com/broadband/

FTC complaint: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/Information#crnt&panel1-1

Thanks you for letting me vent.

Wishing for you all the bugs you might wish to enjoy.

 

Home Again Part 2

Bugs have been good to me.  I have met some wonderful people.  I have expanded my food horizons.  I previously told of returning to my first classroom– where I began teaching in 1976.  Today I got to teach in the classroom where I taught 6th grade in the late ’80’s.

That classroom was the shop classroom for the old Capon Bridge High School.  I loved the great electric service in that classroom.  (In my other classrooms, my principals would come warn me to get rid of the extension cords when the fire marshall surprised us with a visit.) When I went to teach in the junior high, and the elementary moved to the new school, the old shop classroom became the Harold and Lake Henderson Fitness Center.  After the junior high/middle school also moved on the hill, the Capon Bible Fellowship turned the old school into  a church.  As I walked through the halls and classrooms, I was really impressed with the change in appearance, and I had to wonder why it wasn’t that attractive when it was a school.

So, my old classroom is now the social hall for the church.  And they host a local homeschool “Co-op.”  Barbara Whitacre invited me to bring my bug show as part of her “Foods” class.  For a snack, Barbara added about 20% Lithic  cricket protein powder with 80% of her regular brownie mix.  They were delicious.  (I also got to wear my Lithic T-shirt for the first time.)

I started the presentation with Emma Bryce‘s minute documentary (5 minute) Should we eat bugs? (Click the title if you want to watch it on Youtube.)  I  told the students, that they should not believe all the claims made on behalf of entomophagy. (Heck, some of my detractors would likely suggest “you shouldn’t believe ANYthing Bailes tells you.”)  So I told the students to be skeptical.  But I also urged them to consider the claims, the potential benefits.  Could eating bugs help us live longer?  Could eating bugs help our planet?  Could eating bugs help us feed a rapidly increasing population?  Could bugs actually taste good?  I encouraged the students to consider doing their own research– maybe a social studies fair project or a science project.  I can see many opportunities for meaningful research.  And the students could contribute to the understanding of this wide open field of research.

Teachers seldom know whether they have made their point, if they have registered with the students.  I think I would be very satisfied if one student had his or her interest piqued so they explore this field more.

Click here if you are looking for insect products and discounts.

Wishing you many delicious buggy meals.

 

If Mom Says…

Have you been looking for a source of insect products?  Mom’s Organic Market is featuring products such as whole, flavored mealworms and crickets, protein powder, Bolognese sauce, cookies, snack bars, and chips– all made with  cricket or mealworm.  I am particularly interested in the escamoles (ant larvae).

Mom’s has 17 stores.  In Virginia in Alexandria, Arlington, Herndon, Merrifield and Woodbridge. You can find the Virginia addresses here. In Maryland there are stores in Rockville, Bowie, Jessup, Baltimore, and White Marsh.  There are also a stores in DC and Cherry Hill, NJ and Pennsylvania.

Apparently the inventory differs at different stores, so you might want to call and check on aproduct availability before you make the drive.  Mom’s has this Facebook page.

Bugsfeed  lists stores and restaurants in the U.S. as well as other countries.

And here is my list of some of the online suppliers.

In my entomophagy presentations, I tell the audience that they should be skeptical.  Food trends and fads notoriously make outlandish claims.  But I challenge the audience to consider, “Even if only some of the entomophagic claims are accurate (feeding a rapidly growing world population, nighly nutritious, Earth friendly, etc.), doesn’t it behoove (my cows love that word) us to explore eating bugs.