This discussion reminds me of some well-known research I learned about as an undergrad decades ago. Zimbardo and colleagues (1965) conducted social psychology (cognitive dissonance) experiments involving the ingestion of grasshoppers.
Here's a brief description: http://books.google.com/books?id=-7d0W4li-sYC&pg=PA251&lpg=PA251&dq=famous+study+eating+bugs+persuasion&source=bl&ots=xpbiZ-Ldfn&sig=3mIho2Pd05fSRi5bkzB1Mka8B6o&hl=en&ei=wvOqTd7dD8iutwfO6YneBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=eat%20a%20grasshopper&f=false Zimbardo, by the way, is the same scholar who conducted the infamous "Stanford prison experiment" -- not that I'm implying that anyone here is on a slippery slope. Rodger On Apr 16, 12:52 pm, Elizabeth Chalecki <[email protected]> wrote: > Everyone- > > I got some e-mails from various folks asking if they could "steal" the > feed-the-students-bugs idea - yes, please do! I did send Marcel Dicke at > Wageningen University an e-mail about the whole thing, and he sent a nice > note back. Theresa Jedd from CO State also made a good point, that we think > it's icky to eat bugs because we have a choice of what to eat, whereas > crickets could mean the difference between life and death for North Koreans > and others facing severe famine. > > Crickets and mealworms you can get at the PetSmart. I asked the guy at the > Cambridge store if I could kill the crickets by putting them in the > freezer. He said yes, but anything that would be eating them would want > them alive. He asked what I was feeding them to that would eat them dead > (he's thinking iguanas & lizards), and when I said, "my students," he looked > at me like I was some sort of mad scientist! Which actually could be a > good career path for me. > > For locusts and other bigger bugs, I think you would have to go to a > specialty retailer or get them online. The WSJ article says don't eat bugs > from your backyard, as they have been exposed to pesticides and other nasty > stuff. Some of my students have since asked me if I'm going to make insects > a regular part of my diet now (!), and I told them that before I make that > decision, I would like to try them prepared by someone who knows their way > around a bug recipe (Amazon.com sells "The Eat-a-bug Cookbook," "Creeply > Crawly Cuisine" and a few others for the insect-inclined). Hmmm, bug table > at next year's ISA reception? > > -Beth > > -- > Elizabeth L. Chalecki, PhD > Visiting Asst Professor > International Studies Program, Environmental Studies Program > Boston College > 140 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 > chalecki [at] bc.edu > elizabeth.chalecki [at] gmail.comwww.linkedin/com/in/chalecki
