The “new norm” should be to eat bugs. The Washington Post says that it has again promoted eating bugs, which has caused a backlash online.
One of the most important newspapers in the US has called again for Americans to eat a lot of bugs. The paper says that switching from beef, pork, and chicken to bugs will be better for the environment.
The Washington Post said in an article that came out on Sunday that eating bugs instead of meat from animals will “lighten environmental footprints.” The newspaper said that farming insects is also a better way to get protein. For example, crickets are 12 times better than cows at turning food into weight that can be eaten.
The Post and other media outlets have been trying for a long time to get Americans and people in other parts of the West to eat insects. Sunday’s article is the latest in a long line of attempts to do this. A quick Google search shows that the Washington Post has been writing a lot about this topic since at least 2013. Articles with titles like “Why bugs should be a bigger part of the human food chain” and “Why you can, should, and probably will eat bugs” show how often the paper has written about it. The title of a 2019 article was a question: “Would you eat bugs to help save the planet?”
The news source said that 2 billion people, which is about a quarter of the world’s population, already eat bugs. It referred to a report that said the edible insect industry would grow to bring in $9.6 billion a year by 2030. “Consumers can already buy foods like salted ants on Amazon and cricket powder protein bars in Swiss grocery stores.” In the past few years, many news stories have praised the benefits of eating bugs.
The Post is one of the most important news outlets to talk about eating bugs. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and a billionaire, owns the newspaper. He is said to enjoy eating bugs. Bezos is also connected to the World Economic Forum, which has pushed eating bugs as a way to stop climate change many times.
The goal is to make eating bugs the “new normal.” To do this, Americans will have to be trained to get over their fears of cockroaches and other sources of food with six legs. The post said, “Watching others may also help break down barriers.” It also said, “Resistance to eating insects can be strong.” The newspaper said that one solution could be to get famous people to promote bugs that can be eaten.
Online, people didn’t like the idea. The WaPo’s tweet about the article from Sunday was ratioed. Many people thought that the people who work at the post should set an example by eating bugs themselves. “Stop it!” said Christina Pushaw, who works for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s press office.
