Bug meat and other fake news inundate EU voters
Bug meat and other fake news inundate EU voters
Conspiracy theorists are trying to influence European election campaigns with disinformation and lies. Much of the fabrication comes from Moscow, but plenty is homegrown.
Conspiracy theorists are trying to influence European election campaigns with disinformation and lies. Much of the fabrication comes from Moscow, but plenty is homegrown.
If media campaigns in more than a dozen European countries were to be believed, the European Union (EU) intends to force citizens to eat insects instead of meat.
The claim has touched nerves, especially in Italy, where variations of it have been revived and splashed across billboards during European elections to pit Brussels against mama's special sauce.
But consumers of this claim are being fed pure nonsense, an example of countless fabrications launched or adopted by candidates seeking political gain at the cost of the truth.
The fake insect-food narrative, which first surfaced last year in a number of EU countries, has proven so popular with malign actors both within and outside the bloc that they've brought it back for the European election cycle to try to discredit pro-EU candidates.
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But no one should be surprised that malignant actors want to impact Europe's election cycle, with 720 seats up for grabs for the next five-year term in the European Parliament and many national elections taking place simultaneously as part of a record year for elections worldwide.
The EDMO reports a record-high amount of disinformation ahead of the vote about universally controversial issues like migration, agricultural policy and climate change, including even the resurrection of fake stories from years past, such as COVID-19 conspiracies.
Funny, this is actually the second thread in the past couple of days where eating insects has come up for unrelated reasons. I'll repeat what I said in the other thread on a few points:
We should be eating cricket flour. [...] And if we got over the “ick” factor, our carb-filled food would be a lot healthier.
No, you won’t be picking legs out of your teeth.
...
I’ve actually eaten insects when it’s clear that they’re insects. I once even bought some from a Thai grocery and cooked them myself just to see if I could. I’m not a great cook, so it wasn’t exactly a meal with four Michelin stars, but most of it wasn’t too bad. The longicorn beetle larvae tasted nutty and the ants tasted citrusy (I assume because of the formic acid). I didn’t like the giant water bug though. It did look like a massive cockroach, which didn’t help, but it also had a sort of juniper/gin flavor and I don’t like that flavor.
I’ve also had Oaxacan Mexican crickets in chili and lime. They used to sell them on street stalls near Dodger Stadium when I lived in L.A. Pretty good.
What’s funny is that people who don’t blink an eye at eating shrimp, crab or lobster can’t handle the idea of eating arthropods.
Insects can be farmed sustainably, they are high in protein and many other nutrients, and there's really nothing wrong with their tastes unless you don't like the same flavors in other foods.
We should be eating cricket flour. [...] And if we got over the “ick” factor, our carb-filled food would be a lot healthier.
The length people will go to, to not eat a goddamned legume.
Or... stick with me here... we could be eating both. Because insects both taste good and don't taste like plants.
People are squeamish about eating insects but are okay with all the killing of cows, pigs, chickens and more, which is a very much nastier business.
Easier for them to ignore the suffering they cause than ignore that their food is different from what they're used to.
I'm vegan, so you won't be seeing me after bug flour. But I would much prefer that It replaced the meat industry.
There are plenty of amino-acids in plants, there's no need for wasting resources on insects.
In reality, the subsidies meant for these invertebrate animal farms will be lead to more feed for the vertebrate animal farms, in the shape of "concentrated protein feed".
Ma Laeng Tod (Thai street food- fried insects,) is delicious. The grub were like spicy-savory gummy bears.
As some one who’s perhaps too adventurous for their own good (I’ll eat almost anything, once.)… I find this whole idea that it’s going to be forced patently ludicrous. Even if there was a push towards it.
Italians, or at least Sardinians, already eat bugs. As expected, they make it into something delicious.
Casu martzu[1] (Sardinian: [ˈkazu ˈmaɾtsu]; lit. 'rotten/putrid cheese'), sometimes spelled casu marzu, and also called casu modde, casu cundídu and casu fràzigu in Sardinian, is a traditional Sardinian sheep milk cheese that contains live insect larvae (maggots).
"Bugs are disgusting." said the person tucking into crab pâté and lobster at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
"Too right." agreed the person chowing down on a well-boiled haggis.
You know, when i played cyberpunk i noticed they had pizza with authentic pepperoni beetles. I stopped my cyber terrorism to think about that. I was first taken aback about how it truly is a dystopian story. But now that i think about it… would i really care? I unironically like impossible burgers, not because it tastes just like beef, but it’s got that characteristics of a good burger, just a more exotic animal like kangaroo burgers. After the novelty of knowing its bug meat, i could see not thinking differently about it at all. More sustainable, cheaper, healthier, less animal cruelty, and good taste?
Now i know the current bug meat claims are a lie, but honestly… bring on the bugs!
South park had a similar point.
Cartman was all anti vegan food, untill he realized it was just the same hyperprocessed goop he was used to. Then he was all for it.
Honestly im surprised bugs aren't a more popular food. Lots of places where they are boutique street food but haven't seen anyone try to do it at high-volume. I bet you can make a spam-like product that isn't too bad to eat and not really think about what exactly is in it.
It's the ick factor. If you could puree grasshoppers and put something on the ingredients that didn't make it sound like insects, and sell it cheaper than beef, then people would buy it.
Honestly, not knowing what’s in spam is why I don’t eat spam.
I’d rather crunch out on a grasshopper (or cricket, grub… those aren’t crunchy, though,) than eat spam
(I spent some time in Thailand and have had ma laeng tod. The, street food you mentioned)
They definitely sell insects at volume in some countries. In L.A. I was able to get prepackaged insects of several species at a Thai grocery.
But now that i think about it… would i really care?
Meanwhile, Takemura: "Anything that isn't local?"
That's not to say that you can't make excellent food like that, it's just that expecting culinary refinement from Night City's food-chain is a bit of a stretch. Nestle meets American palate.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Meanwhile, Takemura: "Anything that isn't local?"
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I don't understand where the bug meat narrative is coming from, besides that it's gross so it's easy to use to incite fear and disgust any time imitation meat is brought up, when in reality it's usually soy or vital wheat gluten based.
I'm against all animal exploitation, including bugs!
It originates mostly from a post on the blog section of the WEF where the author advocates for consuming insects. The WEF blog is also where the "you'll own nothing and be happy" quote and I think even the 15 minute city scare comes from.
The EU approved some bugs under the novel foods regulation. In short, to place some ingredient on the market that didn't get grandfathered in you have to jump some bureaucratic hurdles, some companies did that for some bugs, and the rightoids twisted it into a world-ending conspiracy.
All it means that they are legal to use as an ingredient in foodstuffs, still has to be labelled etc. as is usual.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The fake insect-food narrative, which first surfaced last year in a number of EU countries, has proven so popular with malign actors both within and outside the bloc that they've brought it back for the European election cycle to try to discredit pro-EU candidates.
The EDMO reports a record-high amount of disinformation ahead of the vote about universally controversial issues like migration, agricultural policy and climate change, including even the resurrection of fake stories from years past, such as COVID-19 conspiracies.
Russia's war in Ukraine has included information campaigns against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally, which DW's Fact Check unit has documented and debunked.
"For the current Kremlin leadership, this is an existential battle, and they clearly are trying to win it, not as much on the frontline as much as targeting the support from the West," explained Janis Sarts, director of NATO's Strategic Communications Center of Excellence in Riga.
"That's why this political election year is so important for them to promote the narratives, the forces that would be ready to stop this support to Ukraine and undermine the European and transatlantic security."
Former Latvian Deputy Prime Minister and EU lawmaker Artis Pabriks says people should not underestimate the European Parliament as an attractive target for political interference.
The original article contains 745 words, the summary contains 203 words. Saved 73%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I really don't get what's up with the bug thing... Our foods are literally addictive and creating obesity. They're full of all kinds of chemicals not proven safe, instead just ones not proven clearly dangerous
And the thought of bugs being part of this is too much? So much that it's useful propaganda?
I really don't get what's up with the bug thing... Our foods are literally addictive and creating obesity. They're full of all kinds of chemicals not proven safe, instead just ones not proven clearly dangerous
And the thought of bugs being part of this is too much? So much that it's useful propaganda?