'Tucker Carlson Originals: Let Them Eat Bugs' explores push to eat insects
Fox News host Tucker Carlson investigates environmentalists pushing people to eat bugs in premiere of Season 3 of 'Tucker Carlson Originals.'
Would you like bugs with that? A growing trend among world leaders, celebrities and influencers is filling up on bugs. One activist, however, warns the trend is more sinister than an alternative protein source.
"I think that the push for insect eating is just a compliance test because our politicians know that when they control the food, they control the people," Dutch political activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek said on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Friday.
Previewing a new season of "Tucker Carlson Originals" on Fox Nation, Vlaardingerbroek provided insight into the bug food industry which she argued will "influence the food supply worldwide."
"The fact that we, the second-largest exporter of agricultural products in the world, our nation with such a rich farming history, is now cracking down on its farms and opening insect factories should be of no surprise to you. This is not something that is just going to affect the food supply of the Netherlands. Like I said, we're the second-largest exporter of agricultural products in the world after America. So this will influence the food supply worldwide. And we've spoken to farmers who said, well, this could lead to actual starvation if we're not careful," she said.
Global leaders have championed the opportunity bugs provide to combat climate change.
At the World Economic Forum, voices like founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab made climate change a focal point of the conversations surrounding the global economy and future policies.
Warnings like "an extinction of large parts of our global population" were shared from center stage, and bugs have gradually been championed as one solution to the climate crisis.
Professor Arnold Van Huis at Wageningen University argued that it is "absolutely necessary" to adopt bugs into the food system.
"I think there is no other way," he said on the Fox Nation show. "It's the only way to go, but it will take some time."
The trend has caught the eye of celebrities and influencers including big names like actress Nicole Kidman. Emerging on the scene are also chefs and culinary experts trying to make the bugs more appetizing.
"I think that the push for insect eating is just a compliance test because our politicians know that when they control the food, they control the people." - Eva Vlaardingerbroek
Chef Joseph Yoon is an Edible Foods Ambassador for Brooklyn Bugs works to create recipes with the creepy crawlers.
"We work to raise awareness and appreciation for sustainable forms of protein," Yoon said on "Let Them Eat Bugs."
"How can we sustainably feed the growing population around the world? And it doesn't suggest that we want to get rid of anything. How do we add something to our diets and maybe look towards the past for solutions for the future? They're incredibly nutritious. They're sustainable, but most importantly, they can be prepared absolutely deliciously."
Carlson tried some of Yoon's creations including a chocolate-covered cricket, cricket caramel corn and even a cricket burger on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Friday.
GREG GUTFELD: WHAT'S WITH ALL THE PEOPLE EATING BUGS?
While new recipes may be making the trend more easily digestible, critics like Vlaardingerbroek remain skeptical of the big bug business.
"They're telling us that it's good for the climate, that this is the way that we can save the planet and that that little steak that you have on your plate that gives you some joy in life is what actually ruins the world. And of course, none of that is true," she said.
Vlaardingerbroek, who also appears in "Tucker Carlson Originals: Let Them Eat Bugs," argued that while bugs may not inherently be an issue to bring in to a diet, it is the politics behind the insects that raise red flags.
"Nobody's being asked. And I think that that's the point. Nobody really inherently wants to eat bugs," she told Carlson.
With the transformation of our food system and diet away from meat to insects, there are also ramifications on farmers which the Netherlands has experienced firsthand.
DUTCH FARMERS FORM ‘FREEDOM CONVOYS’ TO PROTEST GOVERNMENT'S STRICT ENVIRONMENTAL RULES
"We've had massive protests. So our farmers' protests that you and I have been speaking about plenty of times now and that also have been featured in this documentary, they've been very successful," she said.
"We actually had elections just now in the Netherlands where… actually the largest party was the Farmers Party. So the Dutch people don't want to be eating insects. We understand that a traditional profession such as farming that we have been good at for centuries on end is not the cause of a modern-day so-called crisis such as climate change."
The fear is whether global elites are using the bug industry and climate change as another method of controlling the global population.
"It’s all a fantasy, it’s all a new religion. And it’s a scary religion because, of course, once the people are scared, the people in power can do whatever they want," Dutch politician Wybren Van Haga said on "Let Them Eat Bugs." "So we have to be fearful and scared for COVID, for nitrogen, for carbon dioxide, for Putin. We have to be scared for everything, and meanwhile these people who are in power, now they do whatever they want."
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Carlson explores whether bugs are just the latest fad diet, giving consumers another option on the menu, or if there is an alternative agenda with bugs taking center stage on the climate change battleground. Catch "Tucker Carlson Originals: Let Them Eat Bugs" to find out.
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