Eating Grasshoppers

"Entomophagy (the eating of insects) is an ancient practice that is still common in many parts of the world. One of the best-known examples is in Oaxaca, where grasshoppers, known as chapulines, are harvested in summer and fall, toasted, and enjoyed year-round. As Oaxaca has become a popular destination for tourists, especially food tourists, the consumption and market for chapulines has evolved. Jeff Cohen's manuscript argues that understanding chapulines requires seeing them as a food source, a cultural symbol, and an economic engine. Part I: Approaching Chapulines introduces the women at the heart of this study and documents how they harvest, prepare, and consume grasshoppers. Part II: Eating and Thinking Chapulines moves to how other people consume chapulines. For many Oaxacans, especially those in the Central Valleys, chapulines are a regular part of the diet, a food that is highly anticipated every year, as discussed in chapter three. Chapter four documents how tourists approach chapulines. Those who try chapulines are usually looking for an experience, something to "connect" them with the "real" Oaxaca, rather than a meal. Part III: Marketing Chapulines follows the women (whom Cohen calls "chapulineras") as they carry chapulines to the marketplace. As with markets everywhere, COVID-19 was a massive disruption, but the chapulineras created a touchless economy that allowed for continued production even as markets closed and most communities isolated in place. If tourists see chapulineras as poor, rural, Indigenous women who are struggling to make ends meet, these chapters contradict that assumption and reveal the entrepreneurial energy that they bring to the marketplace. A conclusion expands on the text to consider the broader world of food studies and asks why anyone would eat a bug"--