Sumathi Reddy’s article, Bug Eaters try to get some Buzz on September 15 in the Wall Street Journal said: “bugs are tasty, and good for you, too—high in protein, low in fat, cheap and good for the environment. ‘I think it’s what sushi was 20 or 30 years ago,’ he said. ‘Now it’s time for bugs.’ Across the country, entomophagy—the eating of insects—has gained a small audience hopeful that the inclusion of bugs in global cuisine from Southeast Asia to Mexico inspires more of a following for such dishes in the U.S.”
Yes, that is me eating part of a fried cricket in the Night Market in Chiang Mai, Thailand Part you ask? Well, once the little leg touched my lip..That was the end of the EATING!
You can see me tasting fried cricket in Thailand. We also saw lots of insects being consumed on Snack street in Beijing.
Sarah Parsons in “Want Cheap, Eco-Friendly, Healthy Fare? Try Eating Bugs,” says “most consumers would need to get over that ick factor associated with crunching on caterpillars. Just thinking about a cricket leg brushing up against my tongue triggers my gag reflex. But if bugs boast the sustainable foodie traits experts claim they do, I’m willing to take a bite in the name of saving the planet and eating healthy. Plus, cover anything in garlic and chipotle sauce, and it’s dinner to me.”
I personally am not ready to switch completely to bugs as the little legs do creep me out. But I am willing to TRY them again! Who knows if you crush them up and put them in a pita, maybe it is like tuna fish or egg salad, bugs could be the next new food craze.
Lisa Ellen Niver is an award-winning travel expert who has explored 102 countries and six continents. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she worked on cruise ships for seven years and backpacked for three years in Asia. She is the founder of the website WeSaidGoTravel which is read in 235 countries and was named #3 on Rise Global’s top 1,000 Travel Blogs. Niver is represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, Inc.
With more than 150,000 followers across social media, she has hosted Facebook Live for USA Today 10best, is verified on Twitter and listed on IMDb, and is the Social Media Manager for the Los Angeles Press Club.
You can find Lisa Niver talking travel on broadcast television at KTLA TV Los Angeles, Satellite Media Tours, The Jet Set TV and Orbitz travel webisodes as well as her YouTube channel, where her WeSaidGoTravel videos have over 1.6 million views. After three months on TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels and YouTube Shorts, she had over 500,000 (1/2 million) views.
As a journalist, Niver has interviewed Deepak Chopra, Olympic medalists, and numerous bestselling authors and been invited to both the Oscars and the United Nations. She has been a judge for the Gracie Awards for the Alliance of Women in Media, and has run 15 travel competitions on her website, publishing over 2,500 writers and photographers from 75 countries.
For her print and digital stories as well as her television segments, she has been awarded three Southern California Journalism Awards and two National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and been a finalist twenty times.
Niver has published more than 2000 articles, in more than three dozen magazines and journals
including National Geographic, Wired, Teen Vogue, HuffPost Personal, POPSUGAR, Ms. Magazine, Luxury Magazine, Smithsonian, Sierra Club, Saturday Evening Post, AARP, AAA Explorer Magazine, American Airways, Delta Sky, enRoute (Air Canada), Hemispheres, Jewish Journal, Myanmar Times, BuzzFeed, Robb Report, Scuba Diver Life, Ski Utah, Trivago, Undomesticated, USA Today, TODAY, Wharton Magazine, and Yahoo.
Awards
National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards
2021 Winner: Book Critic: Ms. Magazine “Untamed: Brave Means Living From the Inside Out”
2019 Winner: Soft News Feature for Film/TV: KTLA TV “Oscars Countdown to Gold with Lisa Niver”
2019 Finalist for: Soft News, Business/Music/Tech/Art
Southern California Journalism Awards
2022 Finalist: Book Criticism
2021 Winner: Technology Reporting
2021 Finalist: Book Criticism
2020 Winner: Print Magazine Feature: Hemispheres Magazine, “Painter by the Numbers, Rembrandt”
2020 Finalist: Online Journalist of the Year, Activism Journalism, Educational Reporting, Broadcast Lifestyle Feature
2019 Finalist: Broadcast Television Lifestyle Segment for “Ogden Ski Getaway”
2018 Finalist: Science/Technology Reporting, Travel Reporting, Personality Profile
2017 Winner: Print Column “A Journey to Freedom over Three Passovers”
Social Media Presence
YouTube Channel: We Said Go Travel (1.6 million views)
Short form video:TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts
Twitter: lisaniver (90,000 followers)
Instagram: lisaniver (24,000 followers)
Pinterest: We Said Go Travel (20,000 followers and over 70,000 monthly views)
Facebook: lisa.niver (5,000 followers); We Said Go Travel (3,000 followers)
LinkedIn: lisaellenniver (9000 contacts)
4 responses to “Bugs Are the New Sushi”
We love your comments! Allen said, "Very disgusting. Ugh.xo" From Nanette: "Yuk"
Feel free to post your comments here on our blog! Lisa and George
We love your comments!
Allen said, "Very disgusting. Ugh.xo"
From Nanette: "Yuk"
Feel free to post your comments here on our blog!
Lisa and George
We also heard from Cindy who said:
"That's totally gross – – but I admire your sense of adventure.
xo"
FROM BETH:
"Lisa you are a brave soul to attempt the ingestion of a fried cricket. I am so glad you stopped…fried food certainly has its nutritional drawbacks 🙂
Stay cool, say hello to George and thanks for the fantastic We Said Go Travel articles.
Beth"
I remember my stay when I went to Thailand. Thank you for sharing.