---
title: "Surf, Turf—and Chirp?"
date: 2025-09-15T10:00:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/surf-turf-and-chirp"
section: Articles
---
# Surf, Turf—and Chirp?

*September 15, 2025* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/authors/karen-shih-09)


- *Illustrations by Charlene Prosser Castillo*

> Entomology Team Delves Into Benefits, Challenges of Eating Insects

*cricket in spaghetti and meatballs*

**SWAPPING YOUR JUICY STEAK** or crispy chicken with a plate of stir-fried insect larvae or crunchy grasshoppers might sound like an invitation to skip dinner. But what if you could just mix some cricket flour into banana muffin batter, or replace a squeeze of lemon with a sprinkling of citrusy ants?

While people have consumed bugs for millennia, including about 2,000 species around the world today, Americans lag in accepting the protein-rich critters into their diets. Easing them into the practice, known as entomophagy, is the way to go, says entomology doctoral student Helen Craig ’22.

“My philosophy on eating insects is, why would you jump into the deep end?”

She and three undergraduate students in entomology Professor Bill Lamp’s lab researched the environmental, nutritional and economic benefits of eating insects. They spoke to experts, presented to peers and even tested bug recipes themselves. They published an article in [*American Entomologist* ](https://academic.oup.com/ae/article/71/1/26/8116420)this spring.

“I’m a vegan, but I would eat bugs because it’s one of the most sustainable proteins out there,” says Craig. As Earth’s population surges past 8 billion, raising enough livestock to feed more and more people is becoming a challenge. Enter insects, which require significantly less land and water than cattle, pigs and chickens, and don’t produce harmful methane. (In fact, some even eat rotting food, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.)

Craig and biological sciences major Maya Hensley ’25 chat about six types you could eat.



### CRICKETS


*cricket in spaghetti and meatballs*



### GRASSHOPPERS


*two grasshoppers, one in shrimp costume*



### BLACK ANTS


*ant in guacamole*



### BAMBOO WORMS


*cake with worms on top*



### BLACK SOLDIER FLIES


*bag of fly flour*



### COCHINEAL


*pink Starbucks drink with red bugs*




**Issue:** [Fall 2025](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/fall-2025)


**Types:** [Explorations](https://terp.umd.edu/category/explorations)