美味昆虫你敢吃吗？Eating insects benefits both your health and the environment

In the eyes of most westerners, even many Chinese people, eating bugs(虫子) is “gross,” “crazy” or even “barbaric”. But do you know that eating insects benefits(有益) both your health(健康) and the environment(环境)?

Studies have shown eating insects are both very nutritious(有营养的), and would benefit the environment. So could bugs help climate change and reduce world hunger? 

Certain areas of China feature some variation(各种) of insect cuisine(菜肴) as their specialty food. Some insects such as scorpions(蝎子) are also believed to have therapeutic effects(效果) according to traditional Chinese medicine. 

Tarantulas(狼蛛) served at a Taiwanese food festival in Zhejiang province, 18 October 2014.

In fact, according to recent scientific studies, insects are low(低) in fat(脂肪) but high(高) in protein(蛋白质) as well as having other nutritional benefits. Eating insects may help with conditions such as malnutrition(营养不良) or even help some with obesity(肥胖).

Foreigners are invited to taste "dark cuisine" Chinese snacks at an event in Beijing, 13 July 2017.

Moreover, raising insects is much more eco-friendly than raising livestock and other conventional(常规的) meat(肉), which is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2013 study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). That's a little more than all of the world's cars, trains, and planes combined.

A snack street in Wangfujing street, Beijing on October 4, 2015.

Insects require less(少) food(食物) and space(空间) than livestock(禽类) and therefore have fewer negative(负面的) impacts(影响) on the environment. Since insects breed quickly and easily, they can potentially provide enough food for larger populations and alleviate worldwide food shortages(短缺).

Fried centipedes(蜈蚣) at an "insect feast" held in Jilin, 15 June 2012.

Knowing that eating insects is better for the environment than eating traditional meat from livestock, and that insects are very nutritious, would you like to try some?

Fried cicadas(蝉) served at a food festival in Hubei, 15 November 2009.

词汇 Words:

[chóng zi] 虫子 bug
[jiàn kāng] 健康 health
[huán jìng] 环境 environment
[cài yáo] 菜肴 cuisine
[shí wù] 食物 food
[kōng jiān] 空间 space
[yǐng xiǎng] 影响 impact
[xiào guǒ] 效果 effect
[qín lèi] 禽类 livestock
[ròu] 肉 meat
[zhī fáng] 脂肪 fat
[dàn bái zhì] 蛋白质 protein
[féi pàng] 肥胖 obesity
[shǎo] 少 less
[gāo] 高 high
[dī] 低 low
[cháng guī de] 常规的 conventional

重点词汇 Key Word:

虫 <名词 n.> 

• insect; worm; bug
  E.g. Zhè hái zi dù zi lǐ yǒu chóng zi。
  这孩子肚子里有虫子。
  The child has worms.

• <贬义词 derogatory word> person with a certain kind of undesirable quality
  E.g. Wǒ yī zhí jiù shuō tā shì shí zú de hú tú chóng。
  我一直就说她是十足的糊涂虫。
  I always said she was an awful fool.