A Survey of Public Opinion about Entomophagy in Erciyes University

Edible insects have a good potential to solve the world’s food shortage in the future, and might help reduce global hunger and malnutrition. Although entomophagy is very common in some part of the world it is still not well accepted in western countries. In order to determine the attitudes of the young generation in Erciyes University towards entomophagy and the reasons for rejecting entomophagy, a questionnaire survey on 610 participants was conducted in Erciyes University campus in 2017. Of the 610 participants randomly selected in the Erciyes University Campus area, 59.3% were females, and 40.7% were males. With regards to social factors, entomophagy was found to be influenced only by the gender. Although there is a slight neophobia detected (7%), willingness to try edible insects was found low (20%). The most given reason for rejection of entomophagy by participants was disgust factor (47%). The result shows that young generation in Turkey is not ready to consume insects as food. Presumably, this attitude will change in time with the increasing awareness about the benefits of edible insects