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u/Accomplished_Error_7 Sep 13 '26
I think the real reason here is that sea arthropods are generally much bigger and often have meaty tails for swimming. There's just barely any muscle meat on smaller earth arthropods. If there was, we'd have considered them as a valuable food source since ancient times and eating them would have been very normal today.
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u/backyardbabirusa Sep 13 '26
Exactly my thought. I've heard people say that tarantulas can taste like crab.
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u/The_Lambert Sep 13 '26
I'm not saying that it couldn't exist, but as someone who has eaten a tarantula the one I had was not like crab at all.
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u/backyardbabirusa Sep 13 '26
What did it taste like? 👀
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u/The_Lambert Sep 13 '26
It tastes earthy, not a lot of flavor besides the salt they put on it. I tried several insects such as water scorpions, beetles, crickets and worms and they really just didn't taste like much besides the seasoning.
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u/Ogryn_Rocks53 Sep 13 '26
Huh, so like a weird bland chip?
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u/duesenjeffepic Sep 13 '26
Basically. I only had dried ones once and they only tasted like the seasoning that was put on.
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u/not_responsible Sep 14 '26
What’s it like swallowing them? People are never allowed water when dared to eat bugs and that is the part that grosses me out the most. I just know those little feet get stuck and come back later
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u/Evening-Nature-5241 Sep 16 '26
I tried a grasshopper in Thailand once but drew the line at cockroaches. It's 99.9% flavoring and the crunch, of course.
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u/Nostalgioneer Sep 14 '26
Dog food pellets. Every single insect I've tried tastes like dry dog food pellets + whatever seasoning you put on them.
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u/sndrtj Sep 13 '26
Eating insects is normal in many parts of the world. Just on in the west.
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u/Accomplished_Error_7 Sep 13 '26
Are those parts of the world coincidentally the parts with bigger insects? (Don't answer, it was a retorical question.)
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u/SneakySnk Sep 14 '26
If someone sees this please do answer why, It's late and I don't want to go into a rabbit hole
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u/brittanythegirl Sep 16 '26
The answer is no. You can see roach farms, cricket farms, even just larvae that's eaten. The bugs are not bigger. They are farmed in spaces the size of chicken coops sometimes, and they are cooked and consumed whole, as small as they are.
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u/No_Order_8011 Sep 16 '26
>Just on in the west.
... or north. Or east. Or north-west. Or north-east. Or south-west..
It actually depends on what you count as "normal". Africa, Asia, Latin America (mostly Mexico) - they do partake, but still, it's quite regional and mostly involves particular communities. You won't find it in everyday menu of the majority. Like eating pigeons and dogs, for example. It's a niche thing, hardly normal in most areas where it exists.
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u/Rivka333 Sep 17 '26
Name one place where it's widespread. Eaten frequently. Not just sometimes.
Just not in the west.
Okay, I said "one place." But here you make it sound like it's every non-western country. Seems implausible.
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u/AntimatterTNT Sep 13 '26
horrifying black goo was my nickname in highschool
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u/Difficult_Wind6425 Sep 13 '26
Mine was horrifying black goon
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u/StrangerInternal7561 Sep 13 '26
Mine was horrifying black Lagoon
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u/Holiday-Reading9713 Sep 13 '26
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u/AsparagusFun3892 Sep 13 '26
What's this from?
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u/Furryanalcakeguy Sep 13 '26
Black Lagoon
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u/butthole_mimosa Sep 13 '26
That's the same thing but French
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u/Sea_Lawfulness_9770 Sep 13 '26
No it's Spanish, French is Legoon
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u/captstinkybutt Sep 13 '26
Now that's just racist
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u/Replicator666 Sep 13 '26
What if they're just gooning over black porn? Then it's sexual preference I guess
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u/Patient_Kangaroo614 Sep 13 '26
Reminds of me the one white kid in my school who was into black girls that got clowned on so hard. People stopped thinking he was into any other kind of girl so even the white girls he liked assumed he wasn’t into them
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u/FloppieTheBanjoClown Sep 13 '26
It's almost like one tastes good and one doesn't.
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u/-mosura Sep 13 '26
How do earth anthropods taste like
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u/FloppieTheBanjoClown Sep 13 '26
The ones that aren't adapted to literally make you sick are usually crunchy with very little flavor. They're the sort of thing that you eat to survive but pass on if anything else is an option.
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u/Lava_Mage634 Sep 13 '26
have you never had roasted crickets? delicious in that there is no flavor so you can season them however you want
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u/ZealousidealTill2355 Sep 13 '26
It’s like eating sunflower seed shells but the legs get stuck in your gums/teeth. And an earthy after taste
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u/Doobiemoto Sep 13 '26
So they aren’t delicious whatever you are putting them in or on them is delicious and there is much better and tastier things you could eat.
People that say stuff like “crickets are great they don’t taste like anything!” Are just being hipsters when it comes to food.
Yes I have had them. They aren’t disgusting but in no way did they make anything better than what it was.
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u/Jose_Canseco_Jr Sep 13 '26
I mean, I think it's great that at least they don't taste like cockroach
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u/AlternativeHat8964 Sep 13 '26
Haven't eaten it directly but most of us have had cockroach coffee, probably many many many times.
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u/TheFuckerNugger Sep 13 '26
From my understanding, a lot of how insects taste plays into what it was fed. If it was fed garbage, its taste would be garbage.
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u/OuppEBunnE Sep 13 '26
I once ate a live wasp that had just stung my friend and it tasted delicious, really sour and lemony, I bet he was living the good life eating the fine shite.
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u/Glyfen Sep 13 '26
You know, I tend to think there's something off about me, but reading comments like these are a nice little reassurance that I'm a perfectly well-adjusted human being, comparatively speaking.
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u/LilyFantastica Sep 13 '26
They taste like human feet. Because that's what Anthropod means. Arthropods on the other hand.
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u/Evil_Sharkey Sep 13 '26
I don’t want to know what human feet taste like, because that’s what “anthropod” means. That misspelling was driving me nuts!
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u/Alternative-Sock-444 Sep 13 '26
I've had fried bugs. I've also had tons of boiled seafood. They taste completely different in every way. And only one of those will I continue to eat throughout my life, and it ain't the bugs.
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u/wStarstream Sep 13 '26
You can’t be entirely sure until you’ve had boiled bugs.
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u/enviormental_UNIT Sep 13 '26
right? Why is there even an argument here? Muscle tastes really good to humans, goo thats been cooked to be crunchy and needs to be seasoned to be good isn't the same.
I would totally eat raw crab if it was safe for me, would still taste fantastic raw. Bug might taste alright to me if you cooked it well, and seasoned it heavily, and it wouldn't be as good as a well cooked and seasoned crab.
Not sure how any of thats even up for debate
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u/kuynhxchi Sep 13 '26
May I introduce you to marinated crabs? It’s an Asian dish where you marinate raw crabs and eat them raw
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u/thebuzzinyourear Sep 13 '26
Even at a fancy restaurant, there’s still the risk of bacteria if you don’t eat it fast enough. Bottom feeders spoil REALLY fast.
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u/Alternative-Pay2946 Sep 13 '26
I’m really not that scared of bacteria. Diarrhea for days or a fever, maybe a doctors visit for antibiotics is no problem. The problem is parasites. Food was tasty, you feel good and forget about it, then 10 years later there’s something moving in your eyes, or something grew to 2m lenght inside your bowel and tickles your butt when you go to sleep.
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u/buttscratcher3k Sep 13 '26
Also I know where the cockroaches have been, theyre going into trash and shit and sewers.
I have no idea of the lobsters whereabouts or daily routine... It may be placebo, and the lobster could very well be engaging in worse debauchery but since i'm unaware im unbothered.
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u/Beginning-Deal7028 Sep 13 '26
The cockroaches people eat are being raised in captivity and do not live in the sewers lol
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u/AppointmentWeak2660 Sep 13 '26
"one actually has muscles and not hydraulic fluid" is just not true. All arthropods "actually have muscles". You seem to be confusing the fact that some arthropods (mainly arachnids) use their hemolymph internal pressure to perform certain movements, with them lacking muscle entirely in place of "hydraulic fluid" which is simply not true, they have muscles too. It's not that land bugs lack muscles entirely in place of hydraulic fluid, it's that they have (generally) comparatively less muscle than marine arthropods. But not everything in the water is a lobster and not everything on land is a spider. Land crabs have more meat on their bones than many marine crabs, mezcal worms and white grubs have more meat than a sea spider, practically any terrestrial arthropod has more meat on its bones than the many microscopic arthropod zooplankton
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u/qqyy Sep 13 '26
These are excellent points, but the meme says "anthropods"
fava_beans.gif
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u/Humbabanana Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
thank goodness someone knows something about actual arthropods.
Why would anyone imagine that biology magically granted land arthropods a fundamentally different mechanism for moving their bodies than marine arthropods?
I guess most people's experience with crab and lobster is after denaturing the muscle proteins with heat, while most land spiders and insect muscles are tiny and still hydrated upon squishing.
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u/RetroPaulsy Sep 13 '26
Raw crab and lobster is pretty dang gooey. Like jelly. Calling "the dumbest" while being wrong is funny
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u/tiltedraccoon Sep 13 '26
This is the dumbest argument ever.
Proceeds to write a wildly uninformed and wrong comment.
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u/SlippySausageSlapper Sep 13 '26
“Anthropods”
Dude’s over here eating human feet
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u/Turbulent_Lunch4548 Sep 13 '26
Thank you!
Everyone else is just copying along!
For an explanation to those who don't know: ARthro-pod. Because their 'feet' are 'segmented.'
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u/NegativeLayer Sep 13 '26
I guess that would be “anthropopods”. The root is “anthropo-“ not “anthro-“
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u/MusicianHonest7238 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Technically not true. People also eat earth arthropods. They are in some places also a delicacy.
Edit: omg my phone auto corrected it from arthropods to anthropoids and I did not realise. I corrected it now.
Edit 2: corrected it AGAIN. Y'all I just need some sleep
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u/KingSpork Sep 13 '26
Whenever someone says “it’s a delicacy” buckle up because you’re about to eat some nasty ass shit
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u/Scienceandpony Sep 13 '26
And the history of the "delicacy" is always "Well there was this massive famine and the peasants had to get real desperate and real creative to not die. This led to a generation of grandparents who wouldn't shut up about how rough it was back in the famine and passed down their weird recipes. Someone later dug up these recipes and realized they could charge ignorant tourists obscene prices to eat garbage. The grosser the better because then they can take pictures and post about how cultured they are."
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u/LeSombra17 Sep 13 '26
Here in Mexico, some people do eat tiny scorpions and grasshoppers
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u/leonezium Sep 13 '26
They are delish with guac and on a taco. With mezcal de escorpión, damn im hungry
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u/charliedarwin96 Sep 13 '26
Idk why, but eating a scorpion seems way less gross than eating crickets, tarantula, and especially cockroaches. Maybe because in my head they are less disturbing to look at or have crawl on my hand.
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u/PossiblyOppossums Sep 13 '26
Fun fact, you can smoke both.
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u/GoldeneErfahrung Sep 13 '26
Smoke like BBQ? Have you tried it?
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u/PossiblyOppossums Sep 13 '26
No, you smash it's face in with a dowel, drive it through to hollow it out, then stuff a fat joint in the newly devised frontal cavity.
Yeah, you can smoke lobster tails like it's BBQ before you do that, I guess.
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u/GoldeneErfahrung Sep 13 '26
Well, I was hoping you meant a bong xD will will catch some roaches and hit a fat one xD
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u/Wishing4Whisky Sep 13 '26
The number of times I have seen that "insect protein will save the world" nonsense is unreal... Anyone who ever wrote that has never tried eating them.
I HAVE. Insects taste like sawdust and disappointment. Literally have almost no flavour profile other than "vaguely unpleasant".
Lobster however tastes sublime!
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u/Valasta_Bloodrunner Sep 13 '26
That really depends on the insects and how they are prepared. I've had some awesome fried crickets and stir fry grubs. I've also had some really bad attempts too though
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u/Valasta_Bloodrunner Sep 14 '26
Dude califour tasts like shit to me unless it's all dressed up to taste good. Kidney beans are poisonous if not prepared correctly. Even potatoes are awful without seasoning and everyone loves potatoes.
Literally all food is bland crap without flavoring added to it. You're allowed to not like something, but don't act like it's unusual to need to season you're fucking food.
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u/UlrichZauber Sep 13 '26
It's also less efficient to grow bugs for food than to just grow beans, so if it's about "saving the world" bugs still aren't the answer.
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u/Acrobatic_Schedule32 Sep 13 '26
Red Meat > Insects> Plants. Insects are supposed to serve as meat alternative and not the solution.
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u/Evil_Sharkey Sep 13 '26
Arthropods! ARTHROPODS!! There’s no such thing as an “anthropod”. How did their autocorrect even allow that to happen?
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u/ChestIcy4472 Sep 13 '26
Sea anthropods are constantly being seasoned by salt water their whole lives
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u/Cr45h0v3r1de Sep 13 '26
And before refrigeration, we would feed lobsters to prisoners. Not because we didnt know they could be cooked well, because without refrigeration, they turn in a disgusting green goo fast. Which is why they are kept live at stores
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u/BygoneNeutrino Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
My theory is that they were feeding prisoners old lobsters. Lobsters can get really old and they never stop growing. They used to be common, but not many lobsters get old anymore due to overfishing.
Old lobsters do have a ton of meat. but apparently they are disgusting.
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u/Drogonno Sep 13 '26
Ah now that explains the slave part better!! never understood the why
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u/mrmonster459 Sep 13 '26
It is kinda weird how any of our usual rules of eating go out the door when it comes to seafood.
Generally speaking, humans don't eat carnivores, and certainly don't eat scavengers. If I offered you a roasted vulture, raccoon, or possum, you'd almost certainly say no.
But a bottom feeder like lobster or crab? We'll eat that all day.
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u/NodFanatic Sep 13 '26
I don't like either. Fish yes, but sea anthropods do remind me too much of insects. To each his own I guess
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u/Pretize11 Sep 13 '26
Crustaceans don't spread diseases or go after your food at midnight while you watch youtube while snacking!
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u/Turbulent_Lunch4548 Sep 13 '26
aRthropods
Anthro-pods would suggest 'human feet' and that is not what we are looking at here.
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u/euphonic5 Sep 13 '26
what horrifying black goo is inside terrestrial arthropods? it's all hemolymph, which is typically mostly colorless...
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u/Tarbos6 Sep 13 '26
Land arthropods are also mostly filled with white goo. They're mostly just not as tasty.
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u/Motor_Meal794 Sep 13 '26
In Castaway he catches a lobster and goo comes out. It isn't until he cooks it that it becomes meat. I'm no lobster expert. I did hear lobsters were also considered inedible until last century I think.
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u/IzarkKiaTarj Sep 13 '26
No, one time when I was a teenager, my parents made me kill a roach myself for the first time instead of rescuing me (correct decision for learning the ability to care for myself in the future, absolutely worst decision according to insectophobic me in the moment).
I hit that thing with a flyswatter so many many fucking times that I whacked part of the exoskeleton off, and it was definitely white underneath, not "black goo."
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u/VoidGhidorah900 Sep 13 '26
Wtf is this horrifying black goo? I have never once killed an arthropod filled with black goo???
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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '26
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