Insetos na alimentação: desmistificando e recriando concepções na escola

Abstract

The exponential increase in population, the planet has been suffering negative impacts on the living conditions of humanity, especially in the food demand, in particular, with regard to animal protein. One the alternatives to suplly this necessity is the habit to feeding on insects, entomophagy. The entomophagy is recent in culinary and has attracted the attention of the media, research institutions, chefs and other members of the food industry. However, this practice is still little known and rejected in many countries, especially in the occident, mainly because of the negative conceptions and the lack of knowledge of society. The access to information and debate is fundamental to the demystification of the subject matter and the formation of conscious young people. In this sense, the objective of this work was to carry out a survey of the perception of students and teachers of basic education and to inform, through lecture, the possibilities of using insects as source and alternative food. In the first half of 2016, it was developed with students and teachers of high school, in state and private schools, in the municipality of Dois Vizinhos - PR. Questionnaires were applied before and after the lecture, totaling 177 people surveyed. Reserch participants before the lecture had little knowledge about entomophagy and insects, being most people relate insects to negative aspects. It is possible to notice that there was a change in the perception of the respondents about entomophagy, com-paring the responses of the questionnaires before and after the leture. There was a positive perception about the importance of insects as food resources in the near future. In total, 93.2% of the participants indicated that they liked the lecture a lot and learned new subjects; 74% of people stated that the fact that most attention was the importance of insects as a food alternative; 65.5% of respondents agree that insects are high in protein and easily produced. This work was essential for the participants to observe and respect insects as an alternative food, and the lectures are important sources of information, since they are carried out in a different environment from the daily classroom and students and teachers can participate in an interactive way. The subject of entomophagy still needs to be much worked in our society, and the development of activities in the school environment is of fundamental importance as an alternative of information delivery.