Public perception of grasshopper consumption as a food source

In this thesis, the perceptions of grasshopper consumption as an alternative food source by healthy adults were investigated. The consumption of grasshoppers has been investigated in terms of their appearance, taste, nutritional content, suitability to religion, and usage as a food enrichment. 514 randomly selected participants were interviewed in this research. Results were analyzed using IBM SPSS 25.0 and SmartPLS 3.0 programs. 80.2% of the respondents strongly disagreed about the question of "I can consume grasshoppers because I like to try different flavors," 79.2% strongly disagreed about the question of "I can consume grasshoppers because it's a cheap protein source," 75.5% strongly disagreed about the question of "I can consume grasshoppers because it contains all essential amino acids," 67% strongly disagreed about the question of "I can consume products that are enriched with grasshopper flour," 65.2% strongly disagreed about the question of "I can consume grasshoppers because it is allowed to be consumed in three major religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)." Therefore, the perception of most of the participants about grasshopper consumption was negative. Causality analyzes were conducted to test of validity of hypotheses. Both the nutritional content (0.730) and the appearance of grasshopper (0.277) have a positive effect on grasshopper consumption, since individuals are curious about its taste (p<0.05). The curiosity of grasshopper taste has a positive effect on the consumption of foods enriched with grasshopper flour (0.797) (p<0.05). As a result, it has been determined that if awareness of the society is increased about the nutritional value of grasshopper, the taste of grasshoppers may be wondered, and the consumption desire can turn in a positive direction. If awareness of the society is increased, despite its appearance, people are curious about grasshopper taste. Hence campaigns for grasshopper consumption may positively affect the desire to consume food enriched with grasshopper flour.