What Are the Top States for Edible Insect and Wildlife Cuisine?

What are the best states to harvest edible wildlife and explore unique culinary experiences? 

To highlight the growing interest in foraging and harvesting edible species, LawnStarter ranked 2024’s Top States to try edible insect and wildlife cuisine.

California (No. 1) leads the way, followed by New York, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Florida in the top five. These states are normalizing entomophagy, making it easier for adventurous eaters to enjoy edible insects through cuisines like Mexican, Thai, Japanese, and African.  

Other states on the list are Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, Georgia and Ohio, respectively in the top 10.

The report compares all 50 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia, based on access, climate, regulatory and interest, and considered the number of edible species, restaurants serving insects, and Google search interest, among eight total metrics.

"There are over 1,900 species of edible insects reported so far to be consumed across the world. Each species varies in protein content according to its growth stage, species, etc. Nevertheless, insects overall are an excellent source of good quality protein," said Andrea M. Liceaga, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Food Science at Purdue University.

Source: LawnStarter