Last week I ate a bug on purpose.

It was a dry-roasted cricket.

One of the central tenets of my Bugged book is that we should all eat more insects, as they’re a good source of protein and leave less of a footprint (literally) than beef and pork, etc. So Jack and Olivia, two advanced video students from my husband’s high school who are helping me with my book trailer, filmed me offering a tray of dry-roasted crickets and chocolate covered mealworms to kids. What amazed me was how many kids were amped to try them. Teachers, too. My friend, Jim, who teaches AP environmental science, exuberantly crunched several for the camera while holding forth to his class full of students about the importance of eating insects. He was very compelling in his lab coat and bow tie and fluorescent yellow safety goggles. And then we filmed my friend, Will, who pretended to be engrossed in a phone conversation while popping bug after bug into his mouth. He was awesome.

I even got Jack to show me how to work the camera so that I could film him and Olivia eating a cricket. So perhaps they’ll be in the final cut!

Then in the spirit of artistic integrity I thought it only right that I try one. It was . . . fine. If you can get past the skeeve factor, it really isn’t that big a deal. I suppose a roasted cricket is mild in the entomophagy continuum, a gateway bug if you will—it’s not like a live, wriggling grub or anything.

I’ll post the trailer as soon as it’s edited.