When I was growing up, in school, we used to have days where our primary teacher called in sick (or went skiing). On such days, we would get a substitute teacher to take over the class for one or more days. The substitute (or Sub) would usually not be as well-versed in the subject matter as the primary teacher, but that was not unreasonable. The Sub, would also not enforce the rules like the primary teacher. In short, the Sub did the job, but everyone understood that the real learning took place when the primary teacher was in front of the classroom. There are many such examples, in life, where the original is always understood to be inherently better than a substitute. That fundamental understanding may be changing as we speak. Have you walked down the aisle of a grocery store, recently? There are still foods categorized in the four major food groups, but there are subtle ways in which those food groups are being made smaller as time progresses. This is typically done in in favor of more natural or, organic foods. As a kid, I was taught that milk came from mammals. In the store, milk could be found in the refrigerated section of the store. Now, in the cereal aisle, there are unrefrigerated boxes of milk. The boxed milk, requires no refrigeration and does not come from mammals (cows or goats). Instead, this milk is produced from coconuts, soybeans, rice or almonds. It is called milk, because it is used in the same applications as the mammal-based milk. In recent years, the boxed milk aisle has grown ever larger and children who did not grow up learning the four major food groups could think that mammal based milk is more unusual than plant-based milks. I'll bet you won't eat a worm! That was a common playground challenge for young kids. It was considered to be a rather gross act and would make others look away as the challenger would chow down on an unfortunate earthworm in front of a crowd of onlookers. As it turns out, however, the majority of the world's population supplements their respective diets with worms and other small life forms. I was surprised to recently learn that only western societies shy away from high-protein food sources originating from insects. After being completely overtaken by shock, I pulled myself together and began to explore the topic more thoroughly. After reading several articles and watching videos of various cultures around the world whose respective diets include healthy (no pun intended) amounts of insects as a primary means of food, I now have a totally new perspective. I'm still not sure how I will use this newly found insight. When I was growing up, for instance, anything walking across the floor that was not wearing pants or a dress, was usually met with shoe sole vengeance. As the world becomes more globally integrated, cultures blend and we (in the West) may begin to more openly accept the ways of the world that extend beyond our comparatively smaller population bubble. While many people in the world have already substituted insects for meat, we remain largely unfamiliar with the practices. So go ahead and embrace the new world. Download the recipe for waxworm tacos and take a bite of your future reality! 
