Students tried avocado foam topped with a selection of grasshoppers, scorpions, and crickets and smoothies made with bee pollen at an insect-based food sampling event at Pollock Dining Commons.
Stéphane Gawlowicz is the managing chef at Pollock. He said insect eating is common in many countries. He’s from France, where they eat foods many Americans would also consider strange.
“For someone like me coming from a country where consuming snails and frog legs is a delicacy, I can understand that for some other part of the world [insects] can be a delicacy as well,” Gawlowicz said.
Gawlowicz said he thinks insects could be a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals for Penn State students, specifically athletes. He said they’re also a good alternative to more traditional food.
“Or compliment as well,” he said.
The event was a collaboration with the Penn State Center for Pollinator Research.
Kate Anton researches bees at the Grozinger Lab at Penn State. She said consuming insects and bee pollen can make society more in touch with the environment. The smoothie's pollen was collected from May to September.
“We have samples of pollen here from weeks throughout the summer," Anton said. "And you can see our beautiful landscape represented in pollen from our bees.”