A science blog with Eric Berger

The hot new farming trend in China is …


You think you’ve heard it all, right?


In China there are about 100 cockroach farms, and that number is growing. Wang Fuming has what is probably the largest operation in the world.

Barbecued cockroach, anyone? (Emily Rasinski/St. Louis Post-Dispatch)


From the Los Angeles Times:


The favored breed for this purpose is the Periplaneta americana, or American cockroach, a reddish-brown insect that grows to about 1.6 inches long and, when mature, can fly, as opposed to the smaller, darker, wingless German cockroach.


The whole story is fascinating. Apparently the industry was little known until August, when 1 million cockroaches escaped a farm.

Can you imagine that?

Categories: Animal kingdom, National
Eric Berger

36 Responses

  1. Dwight says:

    Another export opportunity lost.

  2. Burt Jerome says:

    Only in China…
    Im glad i dont live next to the farm where the roaches escaped.

  3. Wasn't My Fault says:

    Ewww! They eat dogs and rats also.

  4. ScientistMike says:

    I don’t believe I could ever eat those, I have a very long-standing prejudice against cockroaches, but it certainly is an example of how different cultures learn to accept, or even savor, alternative foods. If it isn’t unhealthy, none of us should care.

    I would guess there may be cultures that would wince at eating raw oysters or even candied ants.

  5. Jack says:

    This world would be a better place if one day, all cockroaches and rats just disappeared.

  6. chiefdecoy says:

    Think about it the next time you have that protein supplement……

  7. Jack says:

    Shouldn’t it be a “cockroach ranch”?

    When one grows a planted crop, it is a farm.
    When one breeds and raises something living, it is a ranch.
    At least I think so.

  8. SBrowning says:

    What’s the big deal? Without cultural differences this world would be a pretty boring place. What do Hindus think of us consuming beef? What about Muslims and us eating pork? Point is we all have “weird” eating habits, it’s just perspective.

  9. Jr says:

    $20 a pound? Hmmm….. Honey cancel that exterminator appointment, we’ve got some farming to do!!!

  10. John Smith says:

    Everyone is invited to my house, tonight, for dinner!!

  11. rick says:

    one large roach combo with beetle juice

  12. Native Texan says:

    Bug eating is not unique to China. We do that in TEXAS too:

    Search for “6th Annual Bug Eating Festival In Austin, TX” or read this link:

  13. JohnD says:


    Someone cue up the Sherman and Larsen!

  14. Dee Malone says:

    They eat stuff I would not step on.

    • IANVS says:


      Since both pigs & insects are coprophagic, what’s the poop-eating difference? Consider that the next time you sit down to a delectable dinner of scrumptious pork chops & apple sauce, never mind medicine, religion, or the unspeakable.

    • howaboutit says:

      Do you eat crayfish (crawdads), catfish and chicken? Same thing? They all eat poop.

    • IANVS says:

      As do cows.

      “Because poultry litter can be as much as eight times cheaper than foodstuffs like alfalfa, the U.S. cattle industry may feed as much as a million pounds of poultry litter to cattle each year. A thousand chickens can make enough waste to feed a growing calf year-round. Although excrement from other species is fed to livestock in the United States, chicken droppings are considered more nutritious for cows than pig feces or cattle dung.”

      How do you want your steak, Dee?

  15. ParadigmShift says:

    Grossest pest?

    I expected this article to be about Miley Cyrus.

  16. wayne says:

    Tastes like chikin

  17. K2 says:

    Probably not much texture difference between that and soft-shelled crab but still — ewwww!

  18. w00t says:

    Farm? Just leave a can of beans out in a Houston kitchen.

  19. JohnH says:

    You know after looking at that pic…..eating a dog or cat doesn’t sound that bad!

  20. Jono says:

    I am totally into entomophagy. I have made my own chocolate “chirp” cookies from scratch with dry roasted chocolate dipped crickets and even stir fried crickets. They were both delicious. This however… I don’t think I could ever get myself to do and that just illustrates how deeply rooted the psychological stigma surrounding insects is.