I thought I saw literally one person’s blog use the word “entovegan” but it seemed to make sense: this is a vegan diet, plus people add in bugs to eat (entomophagy). The thing is, people already eat bugs in various foods they eat, because the bugs inevitably get in to the foods when processing them.

Vegan diets notoriously put people at risk for various nutritional deficiencies. I was wondering then if bugs might have a few of these nutrients that a “pure vegan” diet lacks, so if they just eat more bugs, they wouldn’t have the deficiencies and wouldn’t have the qualms about eating animals or animal products. I do not know the nutritional content of various bugs though, and if it would fill these deficiencies. I’ve also wondered if bug consumption might be good for various diseases or conditions (are there any special nutrients in bugs?).

Personally, I think an omnivore diet is fine, and that meat and animal products are ok to consume where appropriate. I have also been fascinated by bugs as a food source, which is a common food source for various cultures throughout the world.

I’ve seen some who are “grossed out” by eating bugs, or concerned about being prevented from eating meat. I wouldn’t prohibit people from eating meat, but if eating bugs did save money and reduce environmental impact and was nutritionally similar to eating meat, I wouldn’t object to more people opting to eat bugs instead.

Biblically, St. John the Baptist feasted on “locusts and wild honey” (Matthew 3:4), so it’s even a practice in Western Christian tradition (entomophagy, or bug eating). I view vegan diets as being a kind of “penance”, because meat is often lawful to consume, but there have been plenty examples of saints who seem to have been something like vegan as well.

Any thoughts on “entoveganism” and the (gross to some) practice of eating bugs (entomophagy)?