Bugs on the Menu

Bugs on the Menu is a thought-provoking, engaging, and innovative documentary released in 2016 and directed by Ian Toews. The film represents a comprehensive exploration of the unconventional realm of entomophagy – the habit of eating insects.

Bugs on the Menu takes us on a sprawling journey across several continents, from the streets of Khon Kaen in northeastern Thailand to the research labs of North America's hallowed universities, a world tour of entomophagy unfolds. The creators of the film provoke and challenge the world's culinary norms, taking viewers on a delightful sojourn that is bound to fuel reconsideration of conventional dietary practices.

The documentary begins in a small market in Thailand, where the locals are shown indulging in daily meals of silkworms, water bugs, and crickets. Expanding its reach to various countries including, South Africa, The Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada, the movie puts viewers in a broader cultural context, showing how different societies have been integrating insect-fat into their diets from time immemorial in a sustainable and nutritious way.

While the western world often squirms at the thought of noshing on bugs, the film strives to challenge our apprehensions. Its logic is rooted in a very fundamental issue - with a growing population, dwindling resources, and escalating concerns about climate change, provision of food in a sustainable manner is becoming increasingly tyring. Thus, Bugs on the Menu puts forth insects as a solution to some of what are arguably the most pressing issues of our era – food security, sustainability, and nutrition.

In order to corroborate this unconventional solution, the filmmakers have interviewed several leading minds of the culinary world, nutritionists, historians, agriculturalists, farmers, and celebrated chefs who vouch for the wholesome nutritional profile of insects. Enumerating upon the multiple environmental benefits of farming insects – lower greenhouse emissions, less water consumption, and minimal space requirements, the film urges humanity to reconsider its deep-seated dietary norms.

Among its proponents, the movie notably features the charismatic chef Vikram Vij, restauranteur and a celebrated television personality in Canada. Vij unabashedly vouches for the taste and texture of insects and even succeeds in intriguing viewers with his delicious insect-based recipes – from cricket naan bread to mealworm bhel puri – serving evidence that insects can be made palatable and even delicious.

Another protagonist in the film is Dr. Aaron Dossey, an entrepreneur in the insect farming industry. Dossey's company, All Things Bugs, has developed a method for creating high-quality insect protein that's already being used in several popular energy bar brands. His story underscores the growing role of insects in modern nutrition and food security initiatives.

Intersecting with science, history, culture, and gastronomics, Bugs on the Menu is not just a film but a narrative of human evolution and modernity's inertia against change. By highlighting the farmers making a living through insect farming, the researchers studying their nutritional value, the businesses commercializing them, and the movement to offer robust humanitarian and ecological solutions to the world food supply, this documentary serves a holistic viewpoint on the issue.

The consumers that the movie’s creators interviewed – from the street-food aficionados in Thailand to the experimental trialists in Canada – help to bring in an additional human dimension to the documentary. Their experiences offer multiple perspectives on how the world is slowly but steadily shifting towards this new age dieting revolution.

As a visually engaging exploration, the film combines the enthusiastic testimonials, appetizing cookery, captivating interviews, colourful markets scenes, and clean high-tech labs with high production quality, thus creating a powerful narrative that’s both intellectually and visually stimulating.

Bugs on the Menu takes viewers on an eye-opening around-the-world tour of entomophagy. This is no shocking exposé, but a serious proposition that challenges the cultural prejudice, unfounded yuck-factor, and resistance to change while introducing an alternative approach to the world's diet problems.

To sum it up, the movie uses insects as a starting point to provoke reflection on broader, more pervasive issues. It offers a worthwhile watch for anyone interested in the future of global food security, environmental sustainability, or just someone stepping out of their comfort zone and considering a bold gastronomic experiment.