Would You Let Your Kids Eat Bugs? Angelina Jolie Does.

Parentables

This post was written by Ryan Johnson. Image Credit: Mark Marsland/WireImage/Getty Images

Let's face it: Every child has eaten a bug at some point in his or her young life. Whether it was because of a dare from a friend or an accident after one flew in the kid's mouth, it happens. In fact adults do it, too. According to Smarter Sleeping 101, the average adult will swallow around 12 creepy crawlers per year while they snooze. Sorry to put that visual in your head, but my point is that it's not a huge deal. Gross, but so what?

Countries around the world actually consider some bugs a delicacy. In Hanoi, Vietnam, you can expect to find fried scorpions on the menu, while in Japan, diners prefer the tastings of wasp crackers. And in Cambodia, as in many other parts of the world, you can munch on fried crickets. Which is where Angelina Jolie's kids discovered the tasty(?) treat.

Jolie explains in a video for Louis Vuitton that she first gave the crickets to her kids so they wouldn't be "turned off" by customs in their native homeland (her oldest, Pax, is from Cambodia). She wasn't quite prepared for the reaction they had.

"So I bought them... and they ate them like Doritos. And they wouldn't stop and they brought to-go boxes home. And then I had to actually ban the cricket-eating at a certain point because I was afraid they were going to get sick from eating too many... But they're good!"

I think it's great that Jolie is opening her kid's eyes to culinary worlds outside of the United States and educating them about their cultures, as well as various cultures around the world. I hope to expose my daughter to many different foods and tastes, and I would love it if she actually showed a fondness for some of them beyond macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. I don't know if I could give her a box of fried insects, though. She may just have to get her fill of those from our front yard when I'm not looking.

What about you? Would you let your kids (or even encourage them) to eat bugs?

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