Negative attitudes toward invertebrates are a
deep-seated, visceral response among Western peoples.
These internalized aversions toward insects and other terrestrial
arthropods, both in general and specifically as a
food source, subtly and systemically contribute to unsustainable
global foodways. Insect cuisine is, for Westerners,
emblematic of the alien, a threat to our psychological and
cultural identity. Yet failure to embrace entomophagy
prevents us from seeing the full humanity of those of other
classes, races, and cultures, and leads to agricultural and
food policy decisions that fail in their objectives to improve
nourishment for all people. Key to enabling the world’s
peoples to live sustainably with the land are: (1) awareness
of the psychological and cultural barriers to a more insectpositive
perspective (2) embracing insects as a desirable
food resource, (3) understanding the processes by which
those barriers are constructed, their negative consequences,
and (4) identifying strategies for transforming our attitudes.