WOULD you consider replacing your favourite meat dish with insects, either for the taste, or for the health benefits? A US researcher studying their effect on health advocates insects as a potentially nutritious and tasty snack.

Valerie Stull, a recent doctoral graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and herself an insect eater, is the co-founder of the startup and research collaboration MIGHTi, the Mission to Improve Global Health Through Insects. Having tried - and enjoyed - insects on vacation at age 12, she is aiming to promote them as a more mainstream food in the United States.