Philadelphia Weekly

Academy of Natural Sciences Senior Education Director Jacquie Genovesi feeds bugs to children. And not just her own. Mealworms, cockroaches, crickets; she forces kids to choke down insects by the boatload.

"My kids are allergic to nuts," the sick freak says. "But when they are baked, mealworms have a very nutty flavor. I put them in my chocolate chip cookies."

Genovesi is the fiendish mind behind BugFest, a two-day celebration of our creepy, crawly neighbors. From roach races to a viewing of some rare stick bugs, BugFest celebrates everything entomological. Its also a front for her devilish plot to poison you and your children with tainted cuisine.

Before you call social services and have Genovesi picked up for endangering the health of children, David Gracer would like to have a word with you. Gracer started the Sunrise Land Shrimp Company, an educational society traveling the country teaching the benefits of entomological gastronomy, also known as chowing down on six-legged critters.

Gracer is currently working on a project for Animal Planet where he switched to a 30-day, insect-rich diet, a Super-Size-Me-type experiment where 75 percent of his total intake, and all his protein, came from insects. And believe it or not, Gracer's diet is far healthier than Morgan Spurlock's all-McDonalds binge -- although he is reaping attention for his efforts, recently appearing on The Colbert Report.

But the project was not just a publicity stunt. Gracer believes that if we can shift the perception of bugs from disgusting pests to protein-rich food items, we will save water, reduce deforestation for grazing land and save grain used in livestock feed. After all, crabs, shrimp and lobsters are the bugs of the sea, crawling through the muck, collecting garbage and getting dirty with the lowest of the low. On land, they are delicacies.

"I don't seek to change the perception surrounding bugs," Gracer says. "Either they eat the bug or they don't. But I like to think of it as a longer process, show people that they are operating with a really closed mind and get people thinking. And if you do that, you never know what is going to happen with those seeds."

What it might grow into, Gracer believes, is a drastically changed food production landscape. While cows, pigs and other large animals need miles of open grazing land; tons of grain and water; and the energy used in slaughterhouses, bugs can be raised indoors in crowded conditions. And if you stagger your crop, you can create an insect farm that can be harvested every day or every few days, all while using almost no resources. And with bugs outnumbering humans nearly 200 million to 1, there is a good chance you will find something you like on the menu.

"The days of easy beef are numbered," Gracer says. "Humanity is acting like it can do whatever it wants forever."

Cringe if you want but the idea is growing. From insect stirfry to fried crickets, restaurants are slowly coming around to food items that are inexpensive, abundant, and simple to store. Most are ethnic restaurants serving one or two dishes. Some high-end Mexican restaurants, like El Tule in San Jose, will serve grasshoppers. And while there are currently few restaurants that specialize entirely in insect cuisine, that is changing as well.

Santa Monica is home to Typhoon, an eatery with an insect-rich tapestry of dishes designed to make you think twice about calling the waiter to inspect the bug in your soup. And representing the east is Providence's Blue Elephant, where Gracer conducted our interview while he dined on a silkworm chowder. With consultation from Gracer and another famous bug chef, David George Gordon, the Blue Elephant has plans to add a smattering of bug dishes to their menu in the next few months.

If you are not interested in traveling to check out the nation's insect dishes, there are several places you can try bugs right here in the city of Brotherly Love.

Philadelphia has a museum dedicated entirely to bugs. The Insectarium, located at 8046 Frankford Ave., has been scaring the living daylights out of tourists and school science classes for years with their Roach Room, a real roach-infested kitchen encased in glass to show viewers all the places roaches can hide in your home. On September 12th, the Insectarium hosts a tasting of delicious dining treats from the arthropod world.

Can't wait that long to open your palate to pests? BugFest is not only home to some of the premier bug experts telling you all you ever wanted to know about insects, it is also host to the 2008 BugFest bug cook-off.

In addition to teaching about the positive side-effects of slurping down silkworms, Gracer has become something of an accomplished chef in his own right. In the last bug cook-off he participated in, he bested Gordon, author of such books as The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook and The Compleat Cockroach. Gracer says his skills are progressing nicely but he still takes many cooking cues from Gordon.

"Cockroaches are far from my favorite bug," Gracer admits. "They have a waxy coating that many find bitter. David George Gordon recommends soaking the roaches in lemon juice to cut that flavor."

Gracer remains modest about his chances. "I didn't think I was going to win last time and the guy I am facing this time has beaten Gordon six times."

His competition will be Zack Lemann, an entomologist with the Audubon
Insectarium in New Orleans. It will be a challenge but after dining on nothing but bugs for 30 days this year, he has no doubt learned a few new tricks. From deep-fried scorpion to mealworm appetizers and maybe even some of those lemon-kissed cockroaches, Gracer shoots to protect his title against Lemann later this week.