This question actually came up in a conversation I had with a colleague (I asked the question):
If you had to choose one or the other, would you rather eat a ratburger or an insectburger?
Surprisingly, that colleague and another one that I polled had trouble deciding. Maybe it's just me, but I'd think it's a really easy choice -- rats are still mammals, not too different from rabbits (which I've eaten once before), whereas insects are bugs (ick!).
Bugburger ... definitely, but I'm a vegetarian so I'm pretty adverse to eating mammals ...
Posted by: T. Carter | September 05, 2006 at 12:17 PM
Rat Burger.
The link below shows rats being prepared to look like chicken. I googled the images, but the original e-mail described the torch in pic #2 as being used to burn off the hair. At first blush te pictures may seem gross, but are no different than any other meat preparation involving deboning.
http://www.dailybubble.com/gossip/showthread.php?p=928
Posted by: Law Monkey | September 05, 2006 at 04:23 PM
Hmmmm.... Well, what kind of insects are we talking about?
Posted by: Lugosi | September 05, 2006 at 06:08 PM
How about an even more interesting question: how did Hollywood B Movie monsters actually work. Check out this one: http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/2/21701757/
Posted by: Jerry Stephens | September 06, 2006 at 08:18 AM
Rat, definitely. Sure, they're covered with disease-carrying filth, but I'm not eating the fur (presumably), and whatever germs the rats carry will be killed during the cooking process. And while rats do like to hang out in such unsanitary places as sewers and landfills, has anyone seen a hog lot or a cattle yard or a turkey barn? Blech.
Posted by: tom | September 06, 2006 at 09:05 AM
To avoid starvation people will eat almost anything. People do eat insects and rats but I don't recall ever seeing them listed in a menu.
During the siege of Leningrad (Now St. Petersburg) in WW II the horse, dog, cat and rat populations were nearly wiped out.
At the moment I am not that hungry and I will pass.
Posted by: John Neff | September 06, 2006 at 02:35 PM
Actually, now that I've had time to think about it, I would prefer the rat. The fur would provide much needed roughage.
Posted by: Lugosi | September 07, 2006 at 03:56 AM
Insect burger, more protein, and I like crunchy food.
Posted by: Ronald X. Groeber, Ball State Univ | September 10, 2006 at 08:00 AM
For a general semanticist's take on "The Yin Dilemma," see Nicholas Johnson, "Professor Yin Says 'No' to Bug Burgers," September 16, 2006, available online at http://fromdc2iowa.blogspot.com/2006/09/professor-yin-says-no-to-bug-burgers.html
Posted by: Nick, Iowa City | September 16, 2006 at 06:59 PM
Salutations de Genève !
Posted by: Atome&Crochu | January 25, 2007 at 09:30 AM