Edible insects: applying Bakhtin’s carnivalesque to understand how education practices can help transform young people’s eating habits

ABSTRACT

Western European populations are being encouraged to reconsider their diets in light of population growth and the associated intensification of farming systems. In addition, health concerns associated with diets high in sugar, salt and saturated fat are stimulating interest in alternative foods. Including insects in human diets may be one option to help feed a growing population more sustainably, but it comes with its own challenges. This paper reflects on a pilot project introducing edible insects into primary and secondary schools in Wales, UK. Using Bakhtin’s concept of the carnivalesque as a lens for reflection, the difficulties of introducing a novel food are considered and we provide an insight into how more sustainable, fringe practices may be framed in ways that allow them to be normalised.

KEYWORDS:

• entomophagy
• edible insects
• attitude change
• school
• Bakhtin
• carnivalesque

Acknowledgements

We thank Pembrokeshire County Council and the participating schools for supporting the project. Thanks also go to Andy Holcroft for his time and expertise as a chef during the design of the project and in the running of the workshops.

Disclosure statement

Sarah Beynon (co-author) is Director of Bug Farm Foods. No potential conflict of interest was reported by Verity Jones (corresponding author).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This article is based on research undertaken in association with Bug Farm Foods Ltd funded by Innovate UK and Welsh Government's Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) project.