Editing Locust (section)

=== As food ===

{{See also|Kosher locust}}

[[File:Skewered locusts.jpg|thumb|upright|Skewered locusts in [[Beijing]], China]]

Locusts have been used [[insects as food|as food]] throughout history. They are considered meat. Several cultures throughout the world [[entomophagy|consume insects]], and locusts are considered a delicacy in many African, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/4/edibleinsects.cfm |title=Edible Insects |last=Fromme |first=Alison |journal=[[Smithsonian Zoogoer]] |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |year=2005 |volume=34 |issue=4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051111041211/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/4/edibleinsects.cfm|archive-date=11 November 2005 |access-date=26 April 2015}}</ref>

They can be cooked in many ways, but are often fried, smoked, or dried.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livestrong.com/article/549444-the-nutritional-value-of-locusts/ |title=The Nutritional Value of Locusts |author=Dubois, Sirah |date=24 October 2011 |publisher=Livestrong.com |access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref>
The [[Bible]] records that [[John the Baptist]] ate locusts and wild honey ({{langx|el|ἀκρίδες καὶ μέλι ἄγριον|akrídes kaì méli ágrion}}) while living in the wilderness.<ref>Gospel of Mark Mark 1:6; Gospel of Matthew 3:4</ref> Attempts have been made to explain the text to mean [[Asceticism|ascetic]] [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] food such as [[carob|carob beans]], but the plain meaning of the Greek ''akrides'' is locust.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brock |first=Sebastian |title=St. John the Baptist's diet – according to some early Eastern Christian sources |url=https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/3763/John-the-Baptists-Diet.pdf.download |publisher=St John's College, Oxford |access-date=4 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924102311/http://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/3763/John-the-Baptists-Diet.pdf.download |archive-date=24 September 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kelhoffer |first1=James A. |title=Did John the Baptist eat like a former Essene? Locust-eating in the ancient Near East and at Qumran |journal=Dead Sea Discoveries |year=2004 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=293–314 |quote=There is no reason, however, to question the plausibility of Mark 1:6c, that John regularly ate these foods while in the wilderness. |doi=10.1163/1568517042643756 |jstor=4193332|url=http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:385556/FULLTEXT02 }}</ref>

The [[Torah]] prohibits the use of most insects as food, but it permits consuming certain types of locust; specifically, those that are red, yellow, or spotted grey.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/19/Q1/ |title=Are locusts really Kosher?! « Ask The Rabbi « Ohr Somayach |publisher=Ohr.edu |access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref><ref name=hebblethwaite>{{cite news |title=Eating locusts: The crunchy, kosher snack taking Israel by swarm |author=Hebblethwaite, Cordelia |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21847517 |newspaper=BBC News: Magazine |date=21 March 2013}}</ref> [[fiqh|Islamic jurisprudence]] deems eating locusts to be [[halal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shariahprogram.ca/eat-halal-foods/fiqh-halal-haraam-animals.shtml |title=The Fiqh of Halal and Haram Animals |publisher=Shariahprogram.ca |access-date=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101138/http://www.shariahprogram.ca/eat-halal-foods/fiqh-halal-haraam-animals.shtml |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=hebblethwaite/> The Prophet [[Muhammad]] was reported to have eaten locusts during a military raid with his companions.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bukhari |at=Volume 7, Book 67 |chapter=Hunting, Slaughtering |url=http://i-cias.com/textarchive/bukhari/067.htm |access-date=8 November 2016 |quote=403: Narrated Ibn Abi Aufa: We participated with the Prophet in six or seven Ghazawat, and we used to eat locusts with him. |archive-date=3 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603234224/http://i-cias.com/textarchive/bukhari/067.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Locusts are eaten in the [[Arabian Peninsula]], including Saudi Arabia.<ref name="al-jazirah.com">{{cite web |title=من المدخرات الغذائية في الماضي "الجراد" |url=http://www.al-jazirah.com/2001/20011202/wo1.htm|website=www.al-jazirah.com |publisher=Al-Jazirah Newspaper |access-date=8 November 2016 |date=2 December 2001}}</ref> In 2014, consumption of locusts spiked around [[Ramadan]] especially in the [[Al-Qassim Region]], since many Saudis believe they are healthy to eat, but the Saudi Ministry of Health warned that pesticides made them unsafe.<ref>{{cite web |title=سوق الجراد في بريدة يشهد تداولات كبيرة والزراعة تحذرمن التسمم |url=http://www.ajel.sa/local/1466546|website=صحيفة عاجل الإلكترونية |access-date=8 November 2016 |date=11 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611183839/http://www.ajel.sa/local/1466546 |archive-date=11 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.arabnews.com/news/447002 |title=People told not to eat pesticide-laced locusts |newspaper=Arab News |date=4 April 2013 |access-date=8 January 2016}}</ref> [[Yemenis]] also consume locusts, and expressed discontent over governmental plans to use pesticides against them.<ref>{{cite web |author1=أحلام الهمداني |title=اليمن تكافح الجراد بـ400 مليون واليمنيون مستاءون من (قطع الأرزاق) |url=http://www.nabanews.net/news/7921 |website=www.nabanews.net|publisher=نبأ نيوز |access-date=8 November 2016 |date=5 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601093524/http://www.nabanews.net/news/7921 |archive-date=1 June 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ʻAbd al-Salâm Shabînî described a locust recipe from Morocco.<ref name="Shabeeny1820">{{cite book |author=El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny |title=An account of Timbuctoo and Housa: Territories in the interior of Africa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LYNOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA222 |year=1820 |pages=222–|isbn=9781613106907 }}</ref> 19th century European travellers observed Arabs in Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco selling, cooking, and eating locusts.<ref name="Robinson1835">{{cite book |author=Robinson, Edward |title=A Dictionary of the Holy Bible, for the Use of Schools and Young Persons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mJE4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA192 |year=1835 |publisher=Crocker and Brewster |pages=192ff}}</ref> They reported that in Egypt and Palestine locusts were consumed, and that in Palestine, around the River Jordan, in Egypt, in Arabia, and in Morocco that Arabs ate locusts, while Syrian peasants did not eat locusts.<ref name="Calmet1832">{{cite book |author=Augustin Calmet |title=Dictionary of the Holy Bible by Charles Taylor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5pBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA605 |year=1832 |publisher=Holdsworth and Ball |pages=604–605}}</ref>

In the Haouran region, [[Fellah]]s who were in poverty and suffered from famine ate locusts after removing the guts and head, while locusts were swallowed whole by Bedouins.<ref name="Calmet1832 1">{{cite book |author=Calmet, Augustin |title=Dictionary of the Holy Bible |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1ga4m9vIhYC&pg=PA635 |year=1832 |publisher=Crocker and Brewster |pages=635ff|isbn=9781404787964 }}</ref> Syrians, Copts, Greeks, Armenians, and other Christians and Arabs themselves reported that in Arabia locusts were eaten frequently and one Arab described to a European traveler the different types of locusts which were favored as food by Arabs.<ref>{{cite book |author=Burder, Samuel|author-link=Samuel Burder |title=Oriental Literature, Applied to the Illustration of the Sacred Scriptures – especially with reference to antiquties, traditions, and manners (etc.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJhgAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA213 |year=1822 |publisher=Longman, Hurst |page=213}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=... Description of Arabia made from Personal Observations and Information Collected on the Spot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fYFDAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA57 |year=1889 |pages=57ff |last=Niebuhr |first=Carsten}}</ref> Persians use the [[Anti-Arabism in Iran|Anti-Arab]] racial slur ''Arabe malakh-khor'' ({{langx|fa|عرب ملخ خور}}, literally "locust eater Arab") against Arabs.<ref name="Rahimieh2015">{{cite book |author=Rahimieh, Nasrin |title=Iranian Culture: Representation and identity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JtpzCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |year=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-42935-7 |pages=133ff}}</ref><ref name="economist1">{{cite magazine |date=5 May 2012 |title=Persians v. Arabs: Same old sneers. Nationalist feeling on both sides of the Gulf is as prickly as ever |url=http://www.economist.com/node/21554238 |magazine=[[The Economist]]}} {{cite web |title=article on ''highbeam.com'' |date=5 May 2012 |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-288523054.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127022449/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-288523054.html |archive-date=2018-11-27}}</ref><ref name="Majd2008">{{cite book |author=Majd, Hooman |title=The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The paradox of modern Iran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1kuSfuHovwMC&pg=PA165 |date=23 September 2008 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-385-52842-9 |pages=165ff}}</ref>

Locusts yield about five times more edible [[protein]] per unit of [[fodder]] than cattle, and produce lower levels of [[greenhouse gas]]es in the process.<ref>''[[Global Steak]] – Demain nos enfants mangeront des criquets'' (2010 French documentary).</ref> The [[feed conversion rate]] of orthopterans is 1.7&nbsp;kg/kg,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Collavo |first1=A. |last2=Glew |first2=R. H. |last3=Huang |first3=Y.S. |last4=Chuang |first4=L.T. |last5=Bosse |first5=R. |last6=Paoletti |first6=M.G. |editor-last=Paoletti |editor-first=M.G. |title=Ecological implications of mini-livestock: Potential of insects, rodents, frogs, and snails |publisher=Science Publishers |year=2005 |location=New Hampshire |pages=519–544 |chapter=House cricket small-scale farming}}</ref> while for beef it is typically about 10&nbsp;kg/kg.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Smil |first=V. |date=2002 |title=Worldwide transformation of diets, burdens of meat production and opportunities for novel food proteins |journal=Enzyme and Microbial Technology |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=305–311 |doi=10.1016/s0141-0229(01)00504-x}}</ref> The protein content in fresh weight is between 13 and 28&nbsp;g / 100&nbsp;g for adult locust, 14–18&nbsp;g / 100&nbsp;g for larvae, as compared to 19–26&nbsp;g / 100&nbsp;g for beef.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fao.org/infoods/infoods/tables-and-databases/en/ |title=Composition database for Biodiversity |edition=Version&nbsp;2, BioFoodComp2 |publisher=FAO |date=10 January 2013 |access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nutritional value of insects for human consumption |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e06.pdf |publisher=FAO |access-date=1 April 2015 |archive-date=4 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204211732/http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e06.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The calculated [[protein efficiency ratio]] is low, with 1.69 for locust protein compared to 2.5 for standard casein.<ref name=AT/> A serving of 100&nbsp;g of desert locust provides 11.5&nbsp;g of fat, 53.5% of which is unsaturated, and 286&nbsp;mg of cholesterol.<ref name=AT>{{cite journal |last1=Abul-Tarboush |first1=Hamza M. |last2=Al-Kahtani |first2=Hassan A. |last3=Aldryhim |first3=Yousif N. |last4=Asif |first4=Mohammed |date=16 December 2010 |title=Desert locust (''Schistocercsa gregaria''): Proximate composition, physiochemcial characteristics of lipids, fatty acids, and cholesterol contents and nutritional value of protein |url=http://repository.ksu.edu.sa/jspui/handle/123456789/9701 |format=Article |journal=College of Foods and Agricultural Science |publisher=King Saud University |access-date=21 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122001451/http://repository.ksu.edu.sa/jspui/handle/123456789/9701 |archive-date=22 January 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Among the fatty acids, [[palmitoleic acid|palmitoleic]], [[oleic acid|oleic]], and [[linolenic acid|linolenic]] acids were found to be the most abundant. Varying amounts of potassium, sodium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc were present.<ref name=AT/>