Eating bugs- was Re: [Sca-cooks] cochineal

[Philippa Alderton]

--- lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
> I don't have a problem with scale insects, but then,
> i'm not a
> vegetarian... They are in things like health food
> toothpaste (Weleda
> - or at least they were), definitely still in one of
> the SOBE drinks
> (mango i think - i told a vegetarian friend, but i
> think he *liked*
> the idea of eating bugs), etc.
>
> As for being squeamish... have you seen them? They
> look like little
> red-purple seeds. Just think of them that way and
> you won't have any
> trouble. Just chant this mantra: "They're only
> seeds, they're only
> seeds, they're only seeds..."

OK, folks, I can understand your squeamishness, but
Reality Check, here.

If you are a living human being, and you eat food,
changes are you've ingested bug parts in each and
every meal you've ever comsumed. There are methods in
place to minimize this, but any food which requires
collection in large quantities, flour, for example,
will have insect parts ground up in them. It is simply
impossible to eliminate all of them, although they can
be minimized.

We also consume fungi and molds, bacteria, and
viruses, but one of the wonderful things about the
human body is that it can handle most of these
substances as long as they remain in minimal
quantities. It's just large does which cause problems.

You also likely consume heavy metals and radioactive
materials daily- there's no way to prevent that
either, but you do so in minimal quantities- again,
your body comes to the rescue and either filters most
of that stuff out, or otherwise makes it harmless.

Now, as far as consuming bugs from substances like
cochneal, by the point most of this stuff is used in
commercial foodstuffs, it has been rendered
unrecognizable- rather similar, IMO, to the disguising
of meat as the flesh of a (once) living, breathing,
feeling creature by commercial butchering and retail
processes.

Furthermore, we do not use our very own fresh supply
of the elements every time we become life. Almost
everything in your body has been used, recycled, and
reused by other living creatures for millions of
years, and atoms and molecules are generally so small,
that there is a very real possibility that there are
atoms or molecules in the air you are breathing right
now, that was used by any human monster you can name-
Hitler and his Nazis, or perhaps Vlad the impaler. The
other side of the coin is that it was also likely used
by your favorite heroes or historical persons- I'm
glad to breathe the same air that Socrates and Lincoln
and Benjamin Franklin breathed ;-)

So be realistic, folks, and realize that Creation,
however you believe, is far more complex and magical
than personal phobias and prejudices often admit.

Phlip

=====
Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....

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