Entomophagy Anthropology
JULIE LESNIK
Associate Professor
Dept of Anthropology
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI
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Insects to Feed the World 2018 in Wuhan, China

5/25/2018

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I had the great privilege of attending the second Insects to Feed the World conference held this time in Wuhan, China.  The first one was four years ago in the Netherlands, spearheaded by Arnold van Huis and the University of Wageningen.  I did not attend in 2014 so this was my first opportunity to meet Arnold van Huis, which was a bit of a starstruck moment for me. He was first author on the 2013 UN FAO statement that I think of as a rocket booster for my career.  It was an amazing feeling that in his opening keynote address he mentioned my research on an ancient termite mound at Olduvai Gorge, so it was a bit easier to introduce myself to him after that.  It gave me a talking point to tell him that that paper won't be out for some time still and that the news picked up my talk from the Paleoanthropology Society meetings although the articles never credited it as such.

The conference was an amazing experience and I want to share some of my takeaways:

So many black soldier flies!

This conference, like all edible insects conferences thus far, including my own, featured insects as both food and feed.  And it was the first time that I started to wonder how much longer this joint effort would continue, at least in terms of conference programming.   The food side of things was still lamenting issues of consumer acceptance and legislative barriers while the feed side of things was presenting cutting edge research on rearing insects (most commonly black soldier fly larvae) as feed for livestock.  It was a little too familiar of a "late bloomer" feeling - watching your friend hit a new life stage while leaving you behind in the dust.  

Ultimately I think the momentum the feed crowd has is good for all.  The technology that they are developing with their better-funded research is transferable in many ways to food insects.  So once of the food side of things catches up in normalization, there is a lot of groundwork that has already been laid.  The problem with this on the conference programming side is that all the industry players from both sides - farmers, companies, and agriculture researchers - were tied up in these talks and the parallel programming that was specifically focused on the social aspects of insects as food were not as well attended.

Ethno-entomophagy

I presented in and chaired the session on ethno-entomophagy.  And I shouldn't say the session wasn't well attended because it probably had 50 people or so in there.  But I personally feel (and whether this is warranted or just my ego speaking is a debatable) that everyone who works with edible insects in any way would benefit from understanding their cultural significance around the world.  So I am going to take the time to give shout-outs to the ethno presentations here:

Research and development of Ophiocordyceps sinensis
R. Han and L. Cao

Ophiocordyceps sinensis is a fungus that grows on caterpillars on the Tibetan plateau and is used in traditional Chinese medicine for a wide range of aliments (News to me!  So cool!).  Han's talk emphasized the importance of this resource for local people and presented his research on large-scale cultivation of host insects (Thitarodes armoricanus and T. jianchuanensis).  They have had success rearing these long-lived species, infecting the adults with the fungus, and harvesting the resulting blooms.  

Domestication of African gourmet caterpillars
D. Ambühl

To start, I loved  Ambühl's decision to use the word "gourmet" to reflect that these caterpillars are not just edible, they are greatly enjoyed as food.  He presented the work he has been doing with Congolese biologist Augustin Konda to domesticate saturniid caterpillars and rear them as agricultural livestock in a region of the Democratic Republic of Congo where they are no longer found.  This project works closely with local people and the children are especially excited to be involved.  You can follow their progress on their youtube channel.  Definitely go check it out!

Review of past and current status of insects for food and feed in Kenya: reintroducing entomophagy
M.A. Ayieko 

I was lucky to be in two sessions with Dr. Monica Ayieko.  She is brilliant and well-spoken and everyone should be in the room any time she is presenting.  Her talk reviewed the historic use of insects as food in Kenya, current scientific work being done on the topic, and the future prospects of edible insects in human and animal nutrition in Kenya.  The main point of her talk was a call for collaboration.  There is much that needs to be done in order to rear insects on a scale that can be useful for alleviating the challenges of food security.  The many different edible species require a specific understanding of their life cycles, etc., and she wants anyone who is interested to come and help them figure these things out in Kenya!

Women and edible insects: a deep, deep history
J. Lesnik

I presented next and can I say that I am most proud that I was able to keep my own talk within the allotted time?  It's a weird piece of pride I have to not go over time, even when I don't have someone holding up signs.  Anyway, I digress.  I used the 15 minutes to present the overarching theme of my upcoming book (I will present on the Olduvai termite mound at the upcoming Eating Insects Athens (Georgia) conference August 13-15.. Register here!).  Women in foraging societies consume insects more than men and this pattern is not restricted to humans, it is also well represented in the great apes, especially chimpanzees, and can be found across the Primate order.  Therefore I think it is safe to say that our ancient ancestors were likely displaying a similar pattern.  The fact that females rely on them so heavily is a testament to their utility and we should celebrate edible insects as such.

Settlement behaviour of new queens of the weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina
T. Phusakhon and D. Wiwatwitaya

Phusakhon presented her research on the ecology of weaver ant queens establishing new colonies. This species is a prominent and important economic edible insect of Thailand and if they are ever going to be cultivated then it is important to understand how new colonies are established in the wild.  It is important to remember that social insects like ants, bees, and termites are architects of their homes and that temperature regulation is a major factor to consider.  Her work was fascinating showing how the queens are highly selective in choosing their settlement sites with the majority of queens being found on the west sides of trees and on leaves that are superimposed, not curled.  If cultivation is to be successful, it is important to consider such factors in creating habitats for captive colonies.


I was very proud of this session and I believe that familiarizing ourselves with the different ways people consume insects is an important step to helping people see them as actual food, not just something "others" eat.  To that point, I am grateful that there was a special side session dedicated to understanding how our colonial histories affect edible insects research and industry.

The Importance of Decolonizing Edible Insects

Thanks to Charlotte Payne and John Kinyuru for organizing a panel titled "A discussion of neo-colonial approaches to edible insects and how we can work to decolonise the field in both research and industry."  This is a topic that I think every single person attending the conference should have been exposed to, but of course, only the people who already had some familiarity with the concept were the ones that attended the discussion.  Therefore I am glad that we were able to record it so that everyone can see.  You can watch it here.  

The panelists were:
Dr. Komi Fiaboe.  Senior Scientist, Leader of the Insect for Food and Feed Program, ICIPE
Dr. Afton Halloran.  Consultant - Sustainable Food Systems, Former GREEiNSECT PhD Fellow
Dr. Monica Ayieko.  Consumer Scientist, Jooust- Kenyan University
Dr. Amy Franklin, DVM.  Farms for Orphans
Dr. Julie Lesnik.  Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University

Each of the participants spoke for 5-10 minutes on their personal experiences with overcoming the bias against insects as food that comes from our colonial history.  I then wrapped up the presentation part of the session with a very short anthropology-professor lecture about the topic (26:45-32:55) before we opened the discussion to everyone in the room. 

A few key takeaway points: 
  • How we talk about insects as food matters because we are currently limited by a vernacular that portrays them as an "uncivilized" food choice.
  • Funding opportunities for edible insects research is greater in "Western" countries, but we should not be leading the conversation.  We need to collaborate with and give credit to researchers in the countries where we conduct our research.
  • As industry grows we need to be mindful of how it impacts the small-scale farmers that have been making this their livelihood for generations.  

Please check out the video of the panel.  I also highly recommend you watch my lecture on Why Don't We Eat Insects in Western Culture if you are new to this concept and want to better understand the impact of our colonial history on edible insects today.  I also have another blog post that discusses the topic that you might find useful.

Associating with Associations!

 The last thing I want to mention was just how awesome it was to see representatives of the different regional associations come together to discuss their programs and share knowledge.  There has been some speculation on whether a "world association" should be founded, but I think that no one needs an additional annual membership they need to keep up with, and that all the benefits of such an association can be had by making sure these sorts of collaborative conversations continue.  I foresee that this will be a highlight of every IFW conference from here on out.  I will not attempt to summarize the session as this was outside of my area of expertise (you can read a bit about it here), but I do want to give you links to the associations that were present:

The Asian Food and Feed Insect Association- AFFIA
Insect Protein Association of Australia - IPAA
International Platform for Insects as Feed and Food - IPIFF (Europe based)
North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture - NACIA

Final Impression:  Energizing

After attending my first edible insects conference in Montreal in 2014 I was so inspired by the energy and commaraderie I felt that I offered to host Eating Insects Detroit in 2016.  Some people, including myself, sometimes look at this decision as one of naivete, but it was just something I felt I had to do.  I needed to bring this group of people together again.  Four years later I still feel the same way after saying goodbye.  I am excited that Eating Insects Athens is just around the corner and look forward to being an attendee at the next IFW conference, wherever it may land.  
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Not just a fallback food

4/20/2016

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Last week I had the pleasure of presenting research as part of a "Humans in Marginal Environments" symposium at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.  It is a general concept that edible insects are only consumed in areas where the local environment is not suitable for the production of domesticated livestock.  From my experience, this has not seemed true.  I have primarily worked in South Africa, where edible insects such as mopane worms and termites are harvested from agricultural fields and pasture lands and sold in the marketplace alongside a wide range of foods that are produced locally.  I decided to test whether this pattern held worldwide by comparing prevalence of edible insects in a country to the percentage of arable land (defined as land under temporary crops, temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow) recorded for that country.  Not surprising to me, there was no relationship between the two variables. 
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Update on my EntomoAnthro life: 2016 is going to be BIG

1/22/2016

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Happy New Year, everyone!  I can still say that as long as it is still January, right?

2016 is going to be a big year.

I successfully submitted a book manuscript, currently titled "Edible Insects and Human Evolution," on January 5th to go out to peer review.  I spent lots of energy trying to come up with a catchier title, but to no avail.  My favorite was "Sex, Bugs, and Rock and Roll," but I felt I would have a hard time convincing my publisher that was a good idea considering it has nothing to do with rock and roll.  I threw it in as a chapter title, so we'll see how far that goes.

I am happy with what I put together, and I am hopeful that the reviews will be constructive and help make the book the strongest version of itself.  I am trying to accomplish A LOT with this book, and it requires a delicate balance to make it accessible to a broad audience yet true to the complicated and dense data from biological anthropology research that are necessary to reconstruct the insect portion of hominin diets.  At this point it is out of my hands and I know nothing of when or what will happen next.

The good thing about not being able to think about the book is that I can switch my efforts to conference planning.  With the turn of the new year there seems to be ignited interest in the conference.  I had to essentially ignore the conference while working on the book and I had the fear that it was going to be a flop.  I comforted myself in knowing that even if it was just a gathering of my closest entomophagy colleagues, it would be productive.  However, that does not seem to be an issue!  I am getting strong international interest, which was one of my goals.  I have over 20 abstracts submitted for the priority deadline, which if I were to accept them all, would make up about 1/3 of the conference programming.  So they, like all, will go through a rigorous peer review.  I am grateful to have amazing people helping me as my review board and co-organizers.  I have never given a formal shout-out to Marianne Shockley and Wendy Lu McGill.  They are my dream team.  I also have awesome people like David George Gordon helping with some of my event planning, and countless other people who have reached out to ask how they could help.  I couldn't do this without all of you!

I am beginning my biggest fundraising frenzy, mostly across my university.  Wayne State is very supportive of my work and I know there is a lot of excitement about this event.  Did you see the video they made using footage from last year's cricket flour bake off?!  So fun.  

In other news, I received a Leakey Foundation grant to continue my research on termites.  Receiving this grant meant the world to me.  The Leakey Foundation is the biggest supporter of human origins research and they found value in exploring termites as a hominin food source!   Additionally, it was a good reminder that I can still science!   I have spent a lot of time recently writing, and planning, and all other sorts of work that is not directly related to data collection.  It will be a lot of fun to get back to the field and to work with my great collaborators Clayton Magill and Robert O'Malley to investigate chemical properties of termites as they relate to their desirability as a food.  If all goes as planned, I will travel to Africa three times this year in order to collect all the data.  I hope to squeeze in a trip to South Africa in March over spring break.   South Africa has been experiencing a drought which is affecting the reproductive flights of the termites, so timing my return there has been difficult.  Fingers crossed they will be flying in March, or I may be a year behind on the South Africa sample.  I should be able to go to Tanzania this summer to visit the hominin site of Olduvai, but in order to get termites from the chimpanzee site of Gombe in Tanzania, I have to play with timing again, and will likely be doing the same frantic, squeeze-a-trip-in during the fall semester.  It is all very exciting.  I am definitely not complaining!  However, I just adopted this adorable black lab in October, so all of this travel will be more difficult having to be away from this cute face (Shameless excuse to wrap up this post with pictures of the dog).
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​Uco the entomophagist

(We came to Uco's name via a very circuitous route from the French last name "Foucault" for both the philosopher Michel and the physicist Léon.  He lives with an anthropologist and an architect...).

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Uco the love sponge 

I'll miss both these boys when I travel, but at least they have each other.  

2016 is going to be a big year.                      

​I should get back to work.
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Neanderthal Haute Cuisine

9/22/2015

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I am just about ready to head to Gibraltar, yes the British territory south of Spain, for the Calpe Conference "Redefining Neanderthals."  I am excited to present my poster about Neanderthals eating snails as a fun conversation starter as researchers in the field begin discussing the likelihood that Neanderthals were more omnivorous than previously thought.  In some of my other work, I have discussed that Neanderthals likely did not eat many insects because of the cold climate of Pleistocene Europe.  Biodiversity is quite low in these regions, thus the available edible insects would be considerably lower here than other, more temperate regions.  However, that is not to say they did not eat any invertebrates.  It is important to remember that with the latitudinal gradient of biodiversity the variation is clinal; there are no clear-cut boundaries, only increases and decreases in frequencies.  An especially appealing insect or invertebrate might be consumed seasonally, and I think snails make a good candidate for that.  Today, snails are consumed in the highest numbers in France, Italy, and Spain.  Many of the snails are imported into the country from heliciculture farms in other regions allowing for the year-round availability of this delicacy.  In order to assess whether Neanderthals were partaking in such an exquisite food, we need to start paying more attention to the snail shells that are found at Neanderthal sites.  The problem is that snails can be present at these sites for many reasons other than Neanderthal intervention; they could have naturally wandered there or they could have been brought there by other predators such as rodents.  However, if the locale of the Neanderthal site would not be a natural place for snails to visit, or if there is no predatory damage to the shells, then maybe, just maybe, the best explanation is that the shells are refuse from a Neanderthal snack.  I believe there is a good case for this at the site of Krapina, Croatia, although I need to look more closely at the shells for rodent damage.  Better reports of snails as part of the faunal assemblages at Neanderthal sites will also help address this question, and I hope that by discussing this at the conference, this data will become more available.


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I'm planning a conference!

3/3/2015

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I know you know, but now there are official dates and now it is taking over my life, so I feel like there should be a blog here dedicated to it!

On May 26-28, 2016, a little more than a year from now, I will be hosting the Eating Innovation Detroit conference dedicated to exploring the culture of insects as food and feed.  Daily programming will occur on Wayne State University’s campus, and nightly events will happen across the city.  
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What have I accomplished so far?
  • Dates are confirmed!  Mark your calendars!
  • Space on campus is reserved.  Check out our spaces here and here.
  • I have an active website, Facebook page, and twitter account
  • I have two grant proposals in the works to be submitted this summer that, if funded, will allow me to fund travel for international scholars from developing countries
  • I have created different sponsorship levels that I will use to fundraise from university departments and other organizations
  • I am working to secure a keynote speaker that I am pretty excited about but can't say anything yet
  • Anthropology students are participating in a cricket flour back-off on April 7th of this year, which is helping me to build some relationships around the city, including Detroit FoodLab and Detroit Farm and Garden.  I am confident that we will do something cool together for 2016 as well
  • I've been brainstorming a lot of program ideas including poster sessions, panel discussions, organized symposia, and maybe even pecha kucha


There is much still to do, like reserving a block of rooms at a hotel and figuring out shuttles and other transportation options, but it's coming along.  I will keep everyone updated here on the blog about how it's all going!  

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Edible insects represented at ESA 2014

11/19/2014

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More than 3,400 attendees participated in Entomology 2014 in Portland, Oregon in November. The 2014 theme, “Grand Challenges Beyond Our Horizons,” was well-represented in two symposia on insects as food:

Insects as Sustainable and Innovative Sources of Food and Feed Production.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM Portland Ballroom 253 (Oregon Convention Center) Organizer : Marianne Shockley
Moderator: Marianne Shockley

8:00 AM Welcoming Remarks 8:05 AM 

1765 Latitude and attitude: The effects of biodiversity and evolution on entomophagy across the world
Julie Lesnik, Wayne State University 8:25 AM 

1766 Entovita
Daniel Thrasyvoulou, Entovita 8:45 AM 

1767 Setting the table for a hotter, flatter, more crowded earth: Insects on the menu?
Marianne Shockley, University of Georgia ; Sonny Ramaswamy, USDA - NIFA 9:05 AM 

1768 Cricket parantha: Creative restauranteurs incorporate insects into contemporary Indian cuisine
David Gordon, The Bug Chef ; Meeru Dhalwala, Shanik 9:25 AM Break 9:40 AM 

1769 Live insects as feed (or food): Feeding captive insectivores
Mark Finke, Mark Finke LLC 10:00 AM 

1770 An analysis of the current and emergent ento industry: Edible insects in the national marketplace
Harman Johar, World Ento 10:20 AM 

1771 Mealworms as Solomon's shamir: The table as a temple of peace in a densely populated world
Amy Wright, Austin Peay State University 10:40 AM 

1772 Small bugs, big gains: Improving food security in rural southern African communities through microlivestock farming
Valerie Stull, Mighty Mealworms ; Rachel Bergmans, Mighty Mealworms 11:00 AM 

1773 Open bug farm: Making insect farming accessible to everyone through an open source farm kit
Daniel Imrie-Situnayake, Tiny Farms 11:20 AM 

1774 Teaching with insects as food and feed: Incorporating entomophagy into sustainable agriculture education at the university and community level
Donald Sudbrink, Austin Peay State University 11:32 AM 

 Panel Discussion 11:52 AM 
 Concluding Remarks


Beyond Drinking the Worm: Linking Concept with Action to Save the World with Entomophagy.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM Portland Ballroom 253 (Oregon Convention Center) Organizers: James Ricci
Kim Hung
Adena Why
Moderators: James Ricci
Kim Hung
Adena Why


1:30 PM Introductory Remarks 1:35 PM 

1973 Eating bugs 101: Why, how, and the role of education in moving past mental taboos
Robert Allen, Little Herds 1:55 PM 

1974 Eat what bugs you: Entomophagy and its potential in American markets
Laura D'Asaro, Six Foods ; Rose Wang, Six Foods 2:15 PM 1974 Withdrawn 2:35 PM 

1975 Sustainable critters or delicious fritters? Consumer perceptions of edible insects in The Netherlands and Thailand
Catriona Lakemond, Wageningen University 2:55 PM 

1976 Toward maximizing efficiency of black soldier fly production for food and feed
John Schneider, Mississippi State University 3:15 PM 

1977 Insects as food: An overview of U.S. regulatory requirements
Ricardo Carvajal, Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. 3:35 PM 1978 Withdrawn 3:35 PM 

1978 Moving beyond the Bizarre Foods concept and tapping the 'foodie' culture to promote entomophagy
Adena Why, University of California 3:55 PM 

1979 Ento: The art of eating insects
Aran Dasan, Ento 3:55 PM 

1980 What are we actually eating when we consume witchetty grubs? 
Alan Yen, Department of Environment and Primary Industries ; Conrad Bilney, La Trobe University ; Susan Lawler, La Trobe University 3:55 PM 

1981 Entomophagy at The New York Entomological Society 100th Anniversary Celebration, May 20, 1992, The Explorer’s Club, Manhattan, New York
Louis N. Sorkin, American Museum of Natural History 3:55 PM 

1982 A market analysis of entomophagy in the United States
Stephen Bayes, University of California ; Virginia Emery, University of California 3:55 PM Break and Poster Viewing 4:10 PM 1983 Palm weevils: easy to farm and good to eat!
Mark S. Hoddle, University of California 4:30 PM 

1984 Importance of entomophagy in Madagascar
Maminirina Randrianandrasana, University of Illinois ; May R. Berenbaum, University of Illinois 4:50 PM 

1985 Act locally, reach globally: Marketing and promoting entomophagy begins at home
Jerome F. Grant, University of Tennessee ; Renee Follum, University of Tennessee 5:10 PM 

1986 Potential of insects as food and feed in assuring food security
Arnold van Huis, Wageningen University 5:30 PM 

1987 What entomophagy really means, and why it's so challenging
David Gracer, Community College of Rhode Island 5:50 PM 

 Concluding Remarks





The organizers did a great job at representing the range of topics and issues currently being discussed regarding entomophagy.  It was a great day.
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Entomoanthro moves to the D

8/23/2014

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It has been awhile since I posted, but not for a lack of things to say!

I have a new position in the Department of Anthropology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan!  I could not be more excited about the prospects that this city, university, and department have to offer!  I have spent my summer quietly moving and settling in, but I am now primed and ready for big things.

In the department, I have amazing colleagues.  I am especially excited to be a part of a program with strength in business anthropology.  I have so many thoughts on how an insects-as-food movement requires cultural knowledge in order to make it work as a commodity, and I have the exact people around me to help me articulate those ideas. 

The city of Detroit is in the midst of an amazing revival.  The revitalization happening particularly in the Midtown neighborhood makes me think they might be primed to embrace insects as food....  I am looking forward to talking more with Little Herds, an Austin-based nonprofit dedicated to making a marketplace for bug-eaters, about ideas on how to bring entomophagy to the people of Detroit.

Wayne State University is the right place to support me in these research and public outreach efforts.  As a large, public, urban, research institution, WSU is committed to excellence in both academia and the community. I know I am in the right place.

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Eating Insects: The New "Paleo Diet"?

3/6/2014

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Exciting things, a couple years in the making, are finally afoot! 

One, I have an article now available online at the Journal of Human Evolution*.  It will be formally published as a part of a special issue dedicated to "The Other Faunivory," an endeavor of many biological anthropologists coming together to look at human evolution's lesser credited insect food sources.  I will be posting more on this when that issue is launched.  This special issue is based on a session held at the 2012 annual meetings of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Portland, OR.  At that session I had the honor of meeting a special guest, Daniella Martin, which brings me to number two..

Two, Daniella Martin's book Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating
Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet is now available on Amazon! 

An excerpt of the book related to
human evolution is available here.  Daniella does a great job summarizing some of the big points of the evolution of the human diet (and its inclusion of insects) for a broad, popular audience.  The book I am currently writing takes the ideas presented here and details them out in academic form.

For instance, Daniella quotes the exact line in Backwell and d'Errico's 2001 PNAS article that inspired my work
:
"Termites are a valuable source of protein, fat, and essential amino acids, in the diets of both primates and modern humans. While rump steak yields 322 calories per 100 grams, and cod fish 74, termites provide 560 calories per 100 grams."

Those numbers came from sources published in 1971.  We have covered a lot of ground since then and I made it my job to do two things: 1) update the numbers with more recently published data, and 2) make it clear that we should take caution when broadly generalizing the nutritional contributions of "termites," a clade that contains over 280 genera and 2700 species.

My now-available article, "
Termites in the hominin diet: A meta-analysis of termite genera, species and castes as a dietary supplement for South African robust australopithecines," begins to address these issues.

Here is the abstract*:

Termite foraging by chimpanzees and present-day modern humans is a well-documented phenomenon, making it a plausible hypothesis that early hominins were also utilizing this resource. Hominin termite foraging has been credited by some to be the explanation for the unexpected carbon isotope signatures present in South African hominin teeth, which suggest the diet was different from that of extant non-human great apes, consisting of a significant amount of resources that are not from woody-plants. Grass-eating termites are one potential resource that could contribute to the carbon signature. However, not all termites eat grasses, and in fact, the termites that are most widely consumed by chimpanzees and by many present-day human populations at best have a mixed diet that includes small amounts of grasses.

Here I review the ecology of termites and how it affects their desirability as a food resource for hominins, and conduct a meta-analysis of nutritional values for various genera, species and castes from the literature. Termites are very diverse, even within species, and this variability affects both their carbon signatures and nutritional value, hindering generalizations regarding the contribution of termites to the hominin diet. It is concluded here that a combination of soldiers and alates of the genus Macrotermes be used to model the insectivory component of the Plio-Pleistocene hominin diet due to their significant amounts of energy-yielding nutrients and potential role as a critical resource for supporting larger-brained hominins.


I create a model of how termites fit into the diet of our ancestors.  As of now, this is the best account of insects in the real "paleo diet."  They were valuable back then, they are still valuable for many people today, and it would be smart of the Western World to start utilizing insects more in our own diets.

*If you are interested in the full version of this article but it is behind a pay wall, please contact me here and I will gladly send you a pdf.
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International Entomophagy Conference in Montreal August 26-28!

3/4/2014

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This August marks the first time that an international conference on entomophagy is being held in North America. 

The Eating Innovation Conference is going to be an amazing event, but they YOU! 

There is a call for papers and also a call for artists to display film, photos, or any media in the Entomophagy Discovery Room.

The Eating Innovation Conference is interested in uniting as many unique voices as possible on this topic.  They are not looking just for academics but
also people in farming, cooking, food products, artists, marketers, etc. 

If you or someone you know has ever thought about insects as food and how we can make it more widely available in the future, consider contributing or just attending.  We need you!  If you have questions, you can use this link to send queries to the organizers of the Eating Innovation Conference.

I am very much looking forward in participating and hope to see you there!

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American Association of Physical Anthropologists Honors Alan Mann in Calgary This April

2/12/2014

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Although I may be the first person to make a career out of discussing the role of insects in the diets of our hominid ancestors, I am by far not the first person to think of it.  One of the pioneers is Alan Mann, Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University. 

While I was in graduate school, I would see Alan at the annual meetings of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists and he was always happy to talk with me about how insects likely made an important dietary contribution to early hominids.  His big thing was always that I should dig for termite eggs.. I never dug for eggs, but the thought has never left my mind!  I can definitely say that newly hatched insects, or the larvae, offer higher amounts of fat than adult forms, so I am guessing eggs would be similar, although I have never seen any data on it.  Trust me, it is in my long-term goals to figure this out!

This April, I get to present some of my findings in a session honoring Alan's work.  Here's my abstract:


Social insects and cultural origins
JULIE J. LESNIK. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois-Chicago

"Alan Mann’s 1972 article in Man, “Hominid and cultural origins,” concluded that one of the significant changes towards becoming human is modification of the diet toward foods requiring a tool for acquisition and that an individual with a stick could have obtained many of these resources. This viewpoint has been embraced by primatologists more than it has by paleoanthropologists, but it is important for current discussions in paleoanthropology to embrace that hominid reliance on tools does not necessitate the preservation of artifacts. In this poster, Mann’s argument will be reinvestigated paying specific attention to the dietary contributions of social insects. Of all the possible foods that become more easily available with the use of a stick (tubers, roots, etc.), insects such as ants and termites provide some of the most identifiable and reliable high quality resources. Reconstructions of the nutritional and isotopic contributions of these resources, however, must recognize that both termites and ants are from taxonomically diverse clades and that variation in their contributions exists at even the caste level. Using the termite genus Macrotermes and the ant genus Camponotus as examples, these insects may provide good sources of energy and protein and would mainly contribute to a C3 carbon isotope signature. Utilizing these resources more intensively than extant nonhuman great apes could account for the dietary shift that supported brain size increase in the australopithecines."

The full list of papers for the session can be found here.  I think what strikes me most about the session is the broad range of topics to which he has, in some way, contributed to our understanding.  The main thing all of this research has in common though is "the continuation of a perspective that places variation at the center of how our discipline conceptualizes human evolution."  Understanding variation is truly the primary goal of all biological studies.  For me it is in the dietary contributions of different insect species and castes, but for other biological anthropologists in this group it is in areas such as skeletal development, human/landscape interactions or survivorship across life stages, to highlight just a few.

I am looking forward to being in Calgary April 9th-12th.  I hope to see you there!  And I hope to see you at this amazing poster session!

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In Honor of Gene DeFoliart, Insects as Food Advocate

11/13/2013

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A nice piece about University of Wisconsin professor, Gene DeFoliart (1925-2013). 

DeFoliart started his insects-as-food work back in 1974 and has been the leading researcher on the topic ever since, taking his work beyond academia
in effort to promote a change in attitude in the Western World.

Furthermore, DeFoliart believed in open-access research and was publishing his latest book for free on his personal website.  Although he was unable to finish the project, his bibliographic account remains one of the most comprehensive sources on the use of insects as food by people across the world.



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    Author

    Julie Lesnik received her PhD studying the role of termites in the diet of fossil hominins and has since started exploring insects as food more broadly.

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