<\/p>\n
Southwest Open School teacher Jeff Sand\u2019s class \u201cBugged: How Insects Changed History\u201d is not for the squeamish.<\/p>\n
The course fulfills English and world history credits for the 18 students enrolled, and they learn and write about the nutritional value of bugs throughout history.<\/p>\n
But on Wednesday came the true test \u2013 creating culinary perfection. Well, perfection if you don\u2019t mind eating a few bugs.<\/p>\n
The students worked together to make cookies, cupcakes, jalape\u00f1o poppers, stir fry, pizza and snack mix \u2013 all including a common ingredient \u2013 lots and lots of bugs. On Thursday, Oct. 22, a buffet table was lined with the creations in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
What looked like chocolate sprinkles on the cupcakes were actually ant larvae, and the cookies were made with cricket flour. Candies were made with grasshoppers swathed in chocolate. Jalape\u00f1o poppers included jalape\u00f1os, cheese and bacon, but also included water beetles. A pizza was topped with a rhino beetle.<\/p>\n
Justin Massey, 15, couldn\u2019t wait to eat the chocolate-covered scorpion.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrunchy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Massey is one of the more adventurous in the class. He said he tried nearly all the bugs, which had been ordered online.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a hard time getting him not to eat them all,\u201d Sand said.<\/p>\n
Massey said the crickets tasted salty, and the grasshoppers were crunchy.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrickets have a higher percentage of protein than ground beef,\u201d Massey said. \u201cAnd they have even used bees to help treat arthritis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sand told a group of students that bug food isn\u2019t really that bad if you don\u2019t think about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t look them in the eye,\u201d he cautioned those willing to try the creations, and surprisingly lots of students did.<\/p>\n
Michael Finley, 15, said he enjoys the class.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t just learn about bugs, we eat them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nick Martinez, 18, agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther cultures do eat bugs,\u201d he said. \u201cSo there is nothing wrong with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martinez later called dibs on a chocolate-covered water beetle.<\/p>\n
Carissa Williams, 14, wasn\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve eaten a cricket, that\u2019s as far as I will go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sand said there are companies in the United States using cricket powder in protein bars.<\/p>\n
\u201cEighty percent of the world\u2019s population eats bugs in some form or another,\u201d Sand said.<\/p>\n
Bugs have as much vitamin B-12 as salmon.<\/p>\n
The students had to write a persuasive essay about eating bugs.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the kids took the angle that people should eat bugs because of the health benefits and the fact that production is easier on the environment,\u201d Sand said. \u201cEating bugs is part of our future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sand also said that there is evidence that hunters and gathers may have utilized bugs.<\/p>\n
Either way, Kenna McGrath would have none of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo bugs at all. No. It\u2019s so gross,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
To chants of his name, Walter Parker, 17, stuffed a slice of pizza into his mouth, on top of it, a water beetle that was at least 3 inches long.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt tasted like chicken, but a lot crunchier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He chewed and chewed and chewed some more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to do it. Everyone was cheering me on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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