Name: Bugs
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2017-09-27
Duration: 1 h 13 min
Rating: 6.8
Cast: Josh Evans, Roberto Flore, Ben Reade

More about cooking and food culture than bugs

I loved this movie for many reasons but the main one is Ben Reade. What an amazing man. I loved his thoughtful descriptions of tastes throughout the film. His take on the whole subject of insects as food went beyond anything I had thought before and it opened a new way of seeing things for me. At one point in Kenya when asked point blank, "Tell us truly why you have come here?" Reade answered: "We are cooks looking for new taste experiences." This is the key to the whole film. 

This film is just tremendous to watch if only for the incredible camera-work revealing a world never seen by Western eyes. Like how you extract the gigantic and delicious queen from a massive termite mound. Or how you grow billions of crickets to make protein meal for animal feed. By far the best parts of the film involved trips with native people's in Africa and Asia to local markets and into the bush to obtain regional insect delicacies and most importantly, how to prepare and cook such amazing creatures. At one point Reade says something like, "We thought we would just ask how do you cook insects, but it turns out that would be like asking: how do you cook mammals?" There are a thousand ways, and we are shown a few in this film.

Without giving anything away, because this take home message is important and cannot be repeated enough, Ben Reade's point is that food should NOT be about maximizing profit and finding new ways to make money, or cheaper ways to provide protein. No. It should treat food as part of a complete social and ecological system. Instead of imposing Western commercial agribusiness to "improve" the lives of African peoples, the focus should be to learn what they are already eating that tastes delicious, then to understand how that deliciousness can be brought to Western tables. He cites sushi as a prime example, pointing out that 20 or 30 years ago the idea of eating raw fish was repulsive to most Western European palates. Now it is ubiquitous. This film will make you believe that the same thing may happen now with insects. But only if we follow Ben Reade's thinking and not the goals of globalized agribusiness which simply wants to add yucky tasting ground up crickets to "organic" energy bars. 

See this film. It will change you.

The food documentary features various aspects of food, culinary culture, food production, gastronomy, and the social, cultural, and environmental impact of what we eat. These documentaries explore topics ranging from food preparation and cooking techniques to the global food industry, sustainable farming practices, culinary traditions, and the relationships between food, health, and society.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

In an effort to determine their sustainability as a food source, two chefs travel throughout the world tasting insects.

Josh Evans, Ben Reade, and Roberto Flore in Bugs (2016)

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Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Andreas Johnsen, Josh Evans, and Roberto Flore in Bugs (2016)

Andreas Johnsen, Josh Evans, and Ben Reade in Bugs (2016)

Andreas Johnsen, Josh Evans, Ben Reade, and Roberto Flore in Bugs (2016)

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