BEIJING
Alternative nutritional source of insect diet advised recently by the United Nations is actually among mainstream food in China for a long time.
"World's insects and vermin" are prepared in various ways and served on Vangfucing street in the Chinese city of Beijing.
Scorpions and spider species, snails, centipede, millepede, cockroaches, silk worms, grasshoppers, gastropods, squid, octopus and several other types of local insects are eaten usually grilled on skewers in various regions in China.
Local vendors of insects don't have the need to shout about how fresh their products are as the majority of the insects are usually still alive when on grill and are fried alive and served to the customer.
While the price of the insects is determined according to their size, prices vary between 2 to 15 Turkish Liras (1 dollar equivalent to 1.80 TL).
A strong odor has covered the suburb, an attraction point of tourists, due to cooking and serving of unusual food.
While not only insects but also white and red meat are served with different sauces, some food stores also state that they sell cat and dog meat.
Interesting scenes arise when people eat the insects they are usually scared of with appetite.
Scorpions, claimed to be non-poisonous, are on top of the popular demand list as some eat them because they are curious of their taste and others just because they like the taste.
United Nations insect program has stated that insects are rich in iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and zinc and could be the diet of the hungry world, however, the people in this region don't eat insects because of its nutritional value but because they appeal to their taste buds.
