WORDS BY RICHARD RENNIE, IMAGES SUPPLIED
Being able to take the complexities of the scientific world and translate them into language non-scientists can understand is a talent that Lincoln University researcher Caitlin Hyde has used to good effect in her latest research project.
As a Lincoln University student funded through a Joint Post Graduate School Food Transitions 2050 scholarship with AgResearch, Caitlin is completing her PhD on the appeal of eating insects in New Zealand.
She has chosen a subject that is proving more interesting to many than actively engaging in the activity itself.
Her PhD work represents a blend of her earlier academic career that has seen her combine her love of genetics in a Bachelor of Science degree, with a follow up degree in the Arts, studying anthropology.
“A big part of what I have done has been thinking about why this research is interesting to people. Taking out the jargon is the relatively easy part, the harder part is understanding what is the purpose of this research, why am I doing it?”
Rather than simply being a quirky piece of work in a niche area, her PhD has been fuelled by a deeper interest in the sustainability of food production, and the psychology of why people eat what they do.
“We know that conventional food production has issues around sustainability and alternative proteins whether they be from insects or plants. It’s important now to think about different ways of producing food.”
Some years ago, as alternative proteins started to emerge, they were accompanied by concerns over whether red meat as a protein source would become redundant. But for Caitlin it has never been a ‘this or that’ issue.
“At the end of the day we are going to have to produce more food, and this is just about finding more ways to achieve that.”
Her PhD paper reveals some interesting cultural and social interactions with insects as one protein source which enjoyed something of a boom in the mid-2010s.
New Zealand shoppers suddenly had the opportunity to buy cricket flour, boxes of candied grasshoppers and dried grubs.
“I became interested in a sector that had a good start but did not last very well.”
Today the main options exist as novelty gifts, and Kiwis have failed to embrace the protein dense insect option which forms a solid part of the diet for millions elsewhere in the world.
It is estimated about two billion people on the planet regularly consume about 2,000 different types of insects.
They can be as varied as hot ant soup in China, to high protein water beetles served roasted or fried in parts of Africa and the Amazon.
A big part of her work was to try and define what it was that made a food “edible” to consumers, and what were the factors that can enhance and detract from its physical edibility.
She found eating insects for many Western consumers can be a contradictory experience when time is spent by many keeping them out of their homes and eating areas.
Her work also found that what people may claim they will do and actually do can be at odds. Two thirds of consumers surveyed claimed they would try eating insects.
“But the problem is two-fold there. When surveyed people will make such claims, even if they don’t actually do it, and secondly there is a difference between trying them and actually building them into your dietary regime.”
Drawing on her social science skills Caitlin attempted to understand how “edible” is defined.
“It is not enough to just say they are a good source of protein; they have to also add something to the meal in addition to that.”
She cites cochineal bugs that when added to meals provide a strong red colour to the dish.
Caitlin recently made the finals of the Asia-Pacific “three minute thesis” competition, providing her with the opportunity to pitch her thesis content in three minutes to an audience who are not necessarily experts in the field.
Having won the Lincoln round she advanced to the Asia-Pacific finals, where she finished in the top 8 out of 56 finalists.
Now her PhD has come to its conclusion she is looking to getting her work publicised through journals, while also writing up the results in a way that communicates them to a nonscience audience.
Longer term, Caitlin says she is interested in occupying the “in-between” space where her social and conventional scientific skills intersect, communicating science to a wider range of people in an environment where often the facts are cloaked by personal views andsubjective use of published scientific work.
“I think it can be easy to believe that science will save the day, but much of it simply will not work if people do not understand it and pick it up.”
Her work on insects has captured some strong media coverage, including an interview on National Radio with the station’s food guru and host Jessie Mulligan.
Meantime, Caitlin has had plenty of chance to sample the subjects of her research and has developed some firm thoughts on what she will put on her plate, and what she won’t.
She has tried meal worms, huhu grubs, crickets and locusts to name a few.
“Locusts are nice and crunchy, but they do have a bit of a strange “pop” when you bite down which can be a bit off putting.”
She found that meal worms crisped nicely when baked in a slice with cranberries and chocolate, while she was no fan of huhu grubs.
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