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| Dinner is served: Mr Gracer's top treats include fly pupa, cockroaches and scorpions |
To satisfy his cravings David Gracer, 47, from Providence, Rhode Island, keeps a constant stock of his favorite treats, which include fly pupa, cockroaches and scorpions, in his basement freezer.
In a preview for tonight's episode of TLC's My Crazy Obsession, the married father-of-one demonstrates how he uses a net to hunt for creepy crawlies in the undergrowth and 'painlessly' kills them via a freezing method.
Mr Gracer, who works as an English teacher, admits that his diet is unconventional.
'I get told that I'm crazy, or sick, or weird, and I mean that's what it is to be in an unpopular position,' he says.
But defending his bizarre eating habit, he explains that it is just like people eating marine crustaceans - which are also considerably more expensive.
'There is this complete double standard that people have.
'Bugs, as long as they're in the ocean - crabs, shrimp and lobster - are just fine to eat and people can spend quite a bit of money for them. But whereas bugs on the land, suddenly it's all ewww.'
However his wife, Kim Jason, seems unenthused by his fondness for foraging, which has gradually turned into a full-blown obsession.
'David's interest in eating insects just kept getting bigger, bigger and bigger,' she describes.
The couple's basement freezer contains over 12,000 insects, including 20 different species.
Treasure chest: The insect addict's basement freezer contains over 12,000 insects
'Here's my treasure chest of edible bugs,' Mr Gracer chimes as he shows viewers the free-standing unit.
Inside there are stacks of ziploc bags containing unsavory-looking grubs.
Grabbing a Tupperware box, Mr Garcer pops the lid to show two giant scorpions.
He explains that they taste 'kind of like this weird plastic'.
Picking up another large bag, stuffed with grasshoppers he casually adds: 'This will last me two weeks, maybe a week.'
Unusual tastes: Mr Gracer reveals a paper-wrapped pack of cockroaches - he said this species is tastier and crunchier than others he has had
Insect addict: Mr Gracer said that this giant bag of bugs would last little more than a week
Mr Gracer is what is known as an entomophagist - someone who consumes insects as food.
It is estimated that more than half the world's population eat a variety of flying, crawling, and biting bugs.
He's been advocating for entomophagy since 2001 and has presented lectures on the subject at conferences across the world, scoring him numerous television appearances.
He previously claimed that a bowl of grasshoppers has more vitamins than beef and is lower in fat - and uses far fewer resources to produce.
Source: UKDaily Mail
