How eating insects became a conspiracy theory |
Insect protein is healthy and sustainable. But now it is also at the centre of a far-reaching conspiracy theory.
Throughout human history, insects have been on the menu. One of the earliest known depictions of entomophagy (insect eating) dates as far back as 30,000BC in the ancient cave paintings of Altamira in northern Spain, illustrating the gathering of bees. Today many people in Latin America, Asia and Africa consume insects regularly. In Mexico, for example, boiled and fried grasshoppers, "chapulines", are a popular bar snack and increasingly served in gourmet restaurants.
But not everyone's biting. Though insects have long been considered inexpensive, healthy and sustainable sources of protein, they remain largely absent from American and European diets.
In recent years, this reluctance has been exacerbated by a web of conspiracy theories claiming that "global elites" are forcing the public to abandon meat in favour of bugs. This disinformation obscures legitimate scientific research into insects as a source of climate-friendly protein and may hinder the shift towards more sustainable food systems, researchers warn.
Popping up most commonly in the United States and pockets of Europe, "I will not eat the bugs" is a conspiracy theory that alleges that "global elites" will force the ordinary masses to eat bugs under the guise of environmentalism, says disinformation analyst Sara Aniano.
Aniano, who has been researching this theory at the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism for years, says it neatly fits into existing fears about the "depraved decline of Western civilisation". What began as a semi-sardonic meme on an online forum has now seeped into the fringes of politics in both Europe and the US.
In the Netherlands, Thierry Baudet, lawmaker and leader of the far-right Forum for Democracy party, gave an anti-European Union (EU) speech in March 2023, yelling, "No way!" as he poured golden mealworms out of a bag. Baudet later posted a photo of that moment on X, with the caption "WE WILL NOT EAT THE BUGS".
Lega per Salvini Premier, an Italian far-right party, paid for a billboard in Conegliano, Italy, with the words, "Let's change Europe before it changes us" and the dates of the 2024 EU election – next to a close-up of a person consuming what appears to be a locust, conflating entomophagy with a loss of traditional values. In this imagery, food functions as a provocative harbinger of change, tapping into fears of European cultural erosion.
Before he was fired by Fox News in 2023, US talk show host Tucker Carlson's final special on his streaming show Tucker Carlson Originals, was a half-hour programme called "Let Them Eat Bugs". Examining climate-driven food policies, Carlson claims "the people in charge" are pushing bugs onto the public's plate. The episode featured Dutch far-right activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, who called insect consumption a "compliance test" from an overreaching government and doubled down on her support for farmers' protests amid proposals of livestock cuts.
"I will not eat the bugs was a meme," declares Carlson. "Now, it's a movement."
Other right-wing American conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and Candace Owens, along with influencer Jack McGuire have also proliferated the "I will not eat the bugs" conspiracy theory.
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