SNI: What got you interested in consuming bugs? Did you have an ‘aha’ moment where you said to yourself, “mmm…that cricket sure looks tasty.”
Daniella: When I was in Mexico, doing fieldwork for my degree in Anthropology, I was studying pre-Columbian nutrition, of which insects were a big part. Before Columbus arrived, the early Mayans and Aztecs ate everything that crawled, slithered, or swam. I found this fact very interesting, and took copious notes on it. At one point, I was in Oaxaca, and bought a small satchel of chapulines, or roasted grasshoppers from a street vendor. I sat down at a cafe to eat them, and the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by children who had wandered in off the street to eat the chapulines right off my table. It was at that moment I realized that not only were insects nutritious, eco-friendly, and culturally significant, but they were also delicious! It’s hard enough to get kids to eat their veggies, let alone their “buggies” — and here these children were practically fighting over them. It was a big revelation for me.
SNI: What is the most delicious bug you’ve eaten?
Daniella: The tastiest bug I’ve ever tried was wasp brood sautéed in butter. They are creamy yet light and slightly sweet little morsels. Scrumptious!
SNI: Which bug has the most protein per serving? That is, what would you recommend to athletes? 
Daniella: Generally, the bigger the bug, the more protein, or muscle, it contains. Large spiders, like tarantulas, have a very large amount of protein for their body weight; however, they are hard to come by. Large caterpillars are also extremely high in protein; in Africa, the mopane caterpillar fetches a higher market price than beef for just this reason. Locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets all have a high protein, high vitamin, low fat content.
SNI: Do you find that men or women are more receptive to consuming bugs?
Daniella: Generally, men are more open to it. I actually think there are several reasons for this: women in general are supposed to be more squeamish about insects; it’s almost a mark of femininity. Meanwhile, men see it as a challenge, an act of machismo.
SNI: If you appeared on Fear Factor, clearly you be an easy winner in the bug eating part. Do you participate in any competitive sports or do you have a regular fitness regimen?
Daniella: Yes, I hike and swim as often as I can; I also enjoy yoga, climbing, wakeboarding, and underwater hockey.
Daniella Martin is the host of Girl Meets Bug, the insect cooking/travel show. She is passionate about teaching people that insects are fabulous food – in addition to being the most environmentally-efficient animal protein source on the planet! Her dream is to increase public awareness and acceptance of edible insects, with the ultimate goals of helping to solve world hunger, support indigenous people, and reduce pesticide use with this cheap, eco-friendly source of protein. To this date, she has eaten crickets, cockroaches, fly pupae, wax worms, mealworms, silkworms, bamboo worms, grasshoppers, walking sticks, katydids, scorpions, snails, cicadas, leaf-cutter ants, ant pupae, dung beetles, termites, wasps, butterfly caterpillars, dragonflies, and water beetles.
