Think I'll Go Eat a Worm is the reckoning of a farmer's daughter with the looming crisis of the 21st century, which is how to stop the mercury from rising, ice caps from melting, pastures from swinging between droughts and floods, and insects from dying in catastrophic droves. It seems ironic that one solution to the alarming decline in butterflies, bumblebees, and other important pollinators would be to eat bugs, but research indicates that edible insects can make the agriculture industry more efficient and sustainable. Conscientiousness here, though, is never dull, since Wright depicts taste sensations that become available when we open our palates to honeyed crickets, cicada jambalaya, and grasshopper kabobs hot off the grill, their crunchiness a forgotten reminder that humans have long enjoyed such delicacies.
In Think I'll Go Eat a Worm, Wright captures what a thoughtful relationship with food looks like: appreciative and experiential. Using both personal and historical accounts, Wright creates vivid landscapes for the reader demonstrating that insects can fit just as well into our lives as any of the foods we traditionally eat in our society. Wright is masterful at drawing you into her world, and everyone could benefit from taking a quiet moment to join her there.
--Julie Lesnik, Author of Edible Insects and Human Evolution
These personal essays unpack the history of entomophagy and show why edible insects are important to 21st century Americans. The author's humanistic approach to science offers a conduit between research and real life, making clear that environmentally efficient proteins are not only a necessary response to climate change, limited land and freshwater resources, and rising populations of meat-eaters worldwide, but also a potentially delicious adventure.
--David Gracer, Entomological Gastronomist
Wonder and nature appreciation meet the palate and intellectual curiosity in Think I'll Go Eat a Worm. Memories, blended with historical and worldly artifacts of insect consumption, take the reader on a journey through taste and cultures. Scholastic research intertwined with personal experience create delightful, thoughtful and engaging essays. Readers are guided through the thought process, preparation of, and reflection on eating insects. The text flies from the pages as the intricacies and personal nature of insects as food unfold. Think I'll Go Eat a Worm is relatable to multiple audiences across ages, from childhood memories or dares to a worldly snapshot of an honest consideration and connection with our food.
--Marianne Shockley,
Department of Entomology, University of Georgia
