[Rear View October]

Creepy Crawly Consommé

From the Rear View sustainability desk comes a report from London’s Evening Standard: Scientists now claim that adding insects to our diet would benefit our health, and the health of the planet.
Some insects in their dried form have twice the protein of raw meat and fish, according to the report, while others are rich in unsaturated fat and contain important vitamins and minerals. Some 1,700 species of bugs are eaten in 113 countries.

In Taiwan, stir-fried crickets or sautéed caterpillars are delicacies. A plate of maguey worms — larvae of a giant butterfly — is on the menu at some Mexican restaurants.

Sago grubs wrapped in banana leaves go down well in Papua New Guinea, as does dragonfly in Bali.

No word yet on anyone eating termite tacos or bed bug bouillabaisse.

Earlier this year the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization held a conference to discuss how entomophagy — eating insects as food — could contribute to sustainable development.

In Thailand, when pesticides failed to control locusts, the government urged locals to eat them and distributed recipes. Soup’s on!

Former Syngenta Executive Moser Releases New Book

Randy Moser, a former executive with Syngenta Professional Products, recently published a book titled “I Can’t Hear the Fish: But I Can See the Water,” a story of a fishing trip, a deaf father and a son’s quest for understanding.

Set in the waters off Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, this true story captures the parent/child relationship when one is faced with extraordinary challenges.

It’s the story of a father and son finding the relationship that evaded both for years, all in a setting of airplanes, boats, an ocean and distant mountains.

“This has been a life-long ambition of mine — to tell dad’s story and to share the awareness and idiosyncrasies of being deaf,” Moser said.

“It’s only an inconvenience” was his dad’s common response when talking about being deaf, Moser recalls. But it was more than an inconvenience; it had emotions to deal with and an impact on everyone in the family.

“I Can’t Hear the Fish” reflects on a father’s efforts to overcome hardship and disability while trying to maintain some sense of normalcy. It warmly describes the challenges of daily living under tough circumstances.

After leaving Syngenta, Moser became an entrepreneur, work/life balance coach, speaker and consultant. He lives in High Point, N.C.

Fire at Zoo’s Bug Exhibit; Arsonist Tortoise Apprehended

The great fire of Chicago was started by a cow kicking a lantern. Last year, at the Indianapolis Zoo, the culprit was a tortoise.

Critter Corner at the Indianapolis Zoo, sponsored by Arab Termite & Pest Control, is an interactive exhibit of notorious creepy crawlers, such as hissing cockroaches, African millipedes, emperor scorpions and tarantulas.

Apparently, a tortoise in the exhibit decided to hog the heat and in that process, a heat lamp was accidentally knocked over. The resulting fire killed seventeen of the exhibit’s 77 creatures and caused extensive damage to the building.

The happy ending is that the zoo keepers severely reprimanded the tortoise, and the Critter Corner reopened in March.