US Schools Now Serving Children Bugs To Eat
A teacher at a school in Utah served students bugs made for human consumption as part of a lesson on climate change and the emerging need for alternative food sources.
A middle school in Utah was serving children bugs as part of a climate change experiment last week. The teacher was trying to show that farming can have quite a significant environmental impact on the planet, and there are other, somewhat radical, environmentally friendly alternatives to using meat with every meal.
Many students gave the bugs a try, as the fun and creative lesson kept them engaged and entertained. Even several staff members got involved in the climate change experiment. The insects that were offered up for lunch were purchased from a company that sells insects made for human consumption.
While the school district was elated with such an innovative way to excite the kids about alternative foods, some parents were less than enthusiastic. Some called it inappropriate to be serving children bugs and pressuring them into trying such a strange cuisine.
Another part of the climate change experiment was that the children had to write a persuasive or argumentive essay. While the children had to agree that eating insects would help the environment instead of being free to make their own decisions. The report was meant to be a fact-finding activity so that the children could learn more about alternative food.
They were even given extra credit for trying the insects, but it wasn’t pushed on them as most children would find these insects in their garden, not on their plates. While it was not a favorite topic of the parents of the school children as they were unhappy about serving children bugs to eat. But the teacher refuses to apologize as she was just trying to show how farming affects the environment and that there is an alternative to the mainstream food we are eating right now.
However, the teacher later apologized for not allowing the children to pick their perspectives during the essay section of the experiment and, that the activity was not intended to harm or offend anyone.
When the teacher found out that there was concern from numerous parents about serving children bugs, the student in question was offered another topic that the student could pick themselves. The premise of the experiment was for the children to do some research on something we know very little about, not serving children bugs.
In Asia and other eastern countries, insects are a part of everyday cuisine, but in the Western world, it is not something that is widely eaten. The school still encourages parents to come to them with any concerns they may have, but they will keep trying new and innovative ways to engross children in new and interesting topics.
Serving children bugs may be on the back burner for now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t try something else, maybe something a little less controversial. Serving children bugs was never going to go down well with all parents, but it is good that children are learning about alternative food and the effects of climate change, which is what the experiment was about, even if the kids thought it was gross.
