On Saturday, August 20th, I had the opportunity to check out another one of Mark Berman’s “Cooking with Bugs” programs. Mark was a feature presenter at the Franklin Park Conservatory during their opening weekend of the Healthy Planet: Local Food, Global View exhibit.

This time, Mark, an entomologist and educator at Bugman Educational Entoprises, had a few bug foods that I’ve never seen or even heard, let alone tried. Ant brood, royal jelly and giant waterbugs to name a few. And those giant water bugs were a whopping 3.5 inches long!

I wasn’t too keen on the water bugs but  my favorites were the strawberry soup and chocolate-covered crickets. Turn your nose up all you want to but I’m joining the entomophagy bandwagon as an advocate for using bugs as alternative food sources. They are low fat, high protein foods and many taste pretty good.

Heck, if you eat shrimp, lobster and crawfish, it’s all the same! Along with insects, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, etc., crustaceans fit into the same group of Arthropods. In fact, those with shellfish allergies are cautioned against eating bugs as they may cause similar allergic reactions.

For the complete story, including slide show, view the write-up on my “Green Living in Columbus Examiner” column.