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Letter: Locust lunch

Published 2 July 2008

From Julius Wroblewski

Sally Palmer’s fascinating and somewhat ghoulish account of vast cannibalistic locust swarms (31 May, p 42) makes one realise how nature is ever full of surprises. But the spectacle of vast hordes of these little winged Hannibal Lecters should evoke more than morbid fascination or dread: here is a possible opportunity.

Insects are a neglected but quite feasible source of food protein, one that we do not exploit merely because of a squeamish prejudice. Surely it would be easy to scoop up vast numbers of locusts from massive swarms for use either as human food or animal feed. It’s as if nature is providing home delivery.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Issue no. 2663 published 5 July 2008

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