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Insect Candy | National Geographic


00:00:00[Music]

00:00:01every resort town in the US has a candy

00:00:04store but one store in his mo Beach

00:00:07California goes beyond the usual taffy

00:00:09and caramel apples if hot licks has its

00:00:13way Americans will be snacking on

00:00:15everything from caterpillars and

00:00:17cockroaches to mealworm covered apples

00:00:21Larry Peterman is a candy man on a

00:00:23mission

00:00:24for more than a decade he’s been

00:00:26promoting a valuable food source that

00:00:28most Americans find revolting in a land

00:00:32of plenty people resist Larry knows why

00:00:35from an early age parents teach children

00:00:38to avoid insects in our culture from the

00:00:40time that we’re really small we’re

00:00:43taught to avoid insects they might bite

00:00:46you like a mosquito I don’t got a good

00:00:48just got a good cricket in it but kids

00:00:50aren’t the only ones munching on bugs

00:00:52around the world more than 1,400 insect

00:00:55species show up on menus insect dating

00:00:59or entomophagy is part of healthy diets

00:01:02in Asia Africa Australia and Latin

00:01:05America this trend is anything but new

00:01:08archeologists have found evidence of it

00:01:10dating to the earliest humans advocates

00:01:15of insect eating like to note that it’s

00:01:17environmentally sound producing a pound

00:01:20of Caterpillar takes 1/10 of the

00:01:21resources needed to produce a pound of

00:01:23beef

00:01:25and insects brim with vitamins and

00:01:28minerals but despite all the benefits

00:01:33most Americans can’t stomach bugs

00:01:35welcome welcome welcome ever seen

00:01:38unlike Larry Peterman who celebrates

00:01:41them at his dinner party gentlemen the

00:01:45evening begins with Larry’s version of

00:01:47the classic shrimp cocktail

00:01:49we’re just finished preparing a cricket

00:01:51cocktail it’s a lot like a shrimp

00:01:53cocktail Paulie instead of shrimp will

00:01:55use crickets okay folks here’s the first

00:02:00course now enjoy

00:02:09is it surprising while you’re enjoying

00:02:13this I’m going down and get your next

00:02:15course the main course is a stir-fry a

00:02:19special garnish here we go

00:02:22dinner is served I can’t get ready okay

00:02:27go three go several courses later Larry

00:02:39presents his piece de resistance here it

00:02:45is folks what you’ve been waiting for is

00:02:50now don’t anybody dive in until

00:02:52everyone’s reserved please we call them

00:02:54a Pismo surfer what it is is a banana

00:02:56with whipped cream and a really good

00:02:59cockroach on it you don’t have to eat

00:03:00the wings you don’t have to eat the head

00:03:01unless you want to do you know oh you

00:03:03know where this cockroach has been we

00:03:08could do another one next week if you

00:03:10like Larry predicts he’ll eventually win

00:03:13people over as we become more and more

00:03:15insect food oriented our tastes going to

00:03:19change and so I see a niche for somebody

00:03:22that does gourmet insects

00:03:26could have some snob appeal like people

00:03:28taste wise I mean this is good with eggs

00:03:30ooh this bug is good

00:03:32you

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