When Komatsushima Nishi High School’s food department in Komatsushima City, Tokushima Prefecture, offered school lunches using cricket powder as samples, it received a series of complaints such as “Don’t let children eat it.”
So far, they have tasted it twice, but it is said that it is unthinkable following the third time. Insect food is drawing attention as a future source of protein, but the rejection of new foodstuffs still seems to be deep-rooted.
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Lunch that was sampled. The bottom right is the croquette (from Grilas press release)
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Prototype “pumpkin croquette” using powder (from Grilas press release)
“They told me not to move for a while.”
“I received a lot of complaints over the phone, and I was told not to move for a while. It’s a situation.”
On February 28, 2023, Kanako Tada, head of the food department, explained in an interview with J-CAST News.
According to the explanation, teacher Tada was surprised at the taste of school lunches using cricket powder when he saw students playing a game of eating commercially available dried crickets. thought regarding introducing. Then, in November 2010, the first tasting was conducted with the provision of powder from Grilus (Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture), a university-launched venture company that handles edible crickets.
About 170 of the current students participated in the tasting of the “pumpkin croquette,” which was created by students of the food department using powder instead of the minced meat used in croquettes. Students can choose whether or not to eat it, and although the student who devised the school lunch was initially reluctant, he felt that it was fragrant and delicious. This is the first time in Japan that edible crickets have been used in school lunches.
Regarding school lunches using cricket powder, it was reported that following the second time in late February, it will be considered whether to continue using it.
Recently, however, eating insects has become a subject of debate, including among celebrities, and there have been many critical opinions. Regarding the introduction of school lunches, in the comment section of net news, there were voices that admitted, “Isn’t it okay because there is a registered dietitian?” There were many.
Board of Education “It’s up to the school to decide what to do in the future”
Tada, a teacher of the food department, answered the interview, “This time, we did a second time in the form of tasting,” and then explained as follows.
“I have an allergy to crustaceans, so I told them not to eat them if it was physically difficult for them. After the first time, the students were getting used to it, and although some students mightn’t accept it, many students accepted it.”
However, following the first time, even following the second time, there was a series of complaints such as “Why are you letting your child eat it?” Teacher Tada says, “The new ingredients are being misunderstood because they’re being severely criticized. I haven’t had any complaints from the students, but I feel sorry for the students because their faces have been mentioned in the media.”
Regarding school lunches using cricket powder, the School Education Division of the Tokushima Prefectural Board of Education spoke as follows in an interview on February 28.
“It is not a school lunch like elementary and junior high school, but a group lunch for specialized subjects. Not all students eat it all at once, but only some students who want to try it. Universities and companies are safe. I heard that the school provided ingredients to the school and explained to the students regarding allergies. I don’t think it’s something to promote or give guidance on school lunches like this.”
To date, the prefectural board of education has received regarding 20 critical comments, such as “Is safety okay?” When asked, “Are you feeding people who don’t want to eat?”, they replied, “No.”
(Hiroyuki Noguchi, J-CAST News Editorial Department)
