Eating Bugs

Different cultures like different foods, and sometimes a food that one culture thinks is delicious will seem disgusting to another. Almost every culture thinks at least some insects is disgusting.
People eat insects all over the world in Asia, Africa, South America and Mexico. Some people in Asia, for example, eat giant water bugs. They boil them like Americans and Europeans boil lobster. These bugs are so big, they can eat fish.

People don’t usually eat bugs in Europe or North America, but they did at one time. The ancient Greeks cooked cicadas (an insect like a grasshopper) and the Romans ate wood-boring beetles. The American Indians also ate bugs. They ate grasshoppers, crickets, and caterpillars. Once we are used to certain foods, our tastes can be very different. Hindus in India are disgusted by eating beef, and many Asians think cheese is pretty horrible. Americans find it strange that many French eat horse met and frogs.
As the world becomes more international, food tastes are getting wider in many countries. Americans now eat Japanese sushi (raw fish) and French snails. Maybe someday Americans will say “Give me a hamburger and an order of water beetles, please”