Insects Will Be Part of UK Diet

 

2020年昆虫将成为主食

Western diners should get used to the idea of eating insects because by 2020 it is "inevitable"they will form an important part of our diet,according to the entomologist who heads up the world's first university centre focusing on insects as a food source.

一位昆虫学家指出，西方人应当适应吃昆虫的想法，因为到2020年昆虫将不可避免地成为我们日常饮食的重要部分。该昆虫学家是全球首个关注昆虫作为一种食物资源的大学研究中心的负责人。

He argues that consumers who have traditionally turned their noses up at six-legged food may have to change their minds as conventional meat becomes more expensive and scarce.

他指出，随着传统肉类食物变得越来越昂贵和稀有，那些一向对六条腿食物嗤之以鼻的人可能不得不转变自己的观念。

Prof Marcel Dicke of Wageningen University said:"The most important thing is getting people prepared,getting used to the idea.

瓦格宁根大学的马塞尔?迪克教授说:现在最为重要的事是让人们做好准备，习惯这一想法。

Because from 2020 onwards,there won't be much of a choice for us."

因为从2020年以后，我们就没有太多的选择余地。

He wants to persuade people to ditch prejudices about insects,and to persuade manufacturers and suppliers to come up with products that can be sold in "a reassuring and attractive manner".

他想说服人民抛弃对昆虫的偏见，并想说服生产商和供应商将昆虫食品以令人放心和吸引人的方式出售。

For centuries insects have been part of the daily diet of humans throughout the world,from the ants and larvae eaten as part of their subsistence diet by the tribes of Africa and Australia to the popular crispy-fried locusts and beetles enjoyed in Thailand.

很多世纪以来，在世界范围内昆虫已经成为人类日常饮食的一部分，其中包括被非洲和澳洲的原始部落示威生存必需品的蚂蚁和蛹，以及在泰国大受欢迎的酥炸蝗虫和甲虫。

Insects as food are increasingly being promoted as an alternative which are more healthy,nutritious and sustainable than mainstream staples such as chicken, beef and fish.

昆虫正越来越多地被推崇为一种比鸡肉，牛肉和鱼肉等主流食物更健康，更有营养和更具可持续性的新选择。

As well as being low in cholesterol and high in protein,insects produce less waste, Dicke points out,as we typically throw away three-quarters of a chicken,but can eat the same percentage of a locust.

迪克指出，昆虫属于低胆固醇和高蛋白的食物，且造成的浪费更少。我们在吃鸡的时候，通常要扔掉其中的四分之三，而一只蝗虫，我们则能吃掉它的四分之三。

Insects also win on the "conversion factor" or ration of feed ingested by the animal to the meat produced by it-known as ECI.

昆虫同样在转换系数上领先。

Beef cattle has an ECI rate of 10 while the cockroach triumphs with 44.

牛肉的ECI比率为10，蟑螂远远高于此数，为44。

The carbon emissions associated with growing insects is also far lower than those linked to conventional livestock.

昆虫生长过程中的碳排放量也比传统的牲畜要低得多。