At least for now, tarantulas feed rural areas in Cambodia that have had a history of malnourishment. Rithy, a local Cambodian cook, told me about how malnutrition stunts the growth of many Cambodian children. Kids in Cambodia who are fifteen or sixteen in age often look like they’re twelve years or younger. Therefore, many Cambodian children venture to the fields to hunt for tarantulas as food.

Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia with thirty-one percent of citizens living below the poverty line of 1.25 USD per day (World Bank, 2011). The agricultural sector plays the largest roll in Cambodia’s developing economy by employing eighty-two percent of the rural population (Shams, 2007). Neighboring Thailand has an edible insect food culture that demands delicacies like tarantulas. So tarantula hunting, cooking and export has become a source of not only nourishment, but also income for the Cambodians.

For many eaters in Western nations, eating insects and arachnids like tarantulas could be seen as an exotic spectacle. But when it’s feeding Cambodia as it repairs from genocide and starvation, then you have to think: could edible tarantulas and insects solve hunger and weak agricultural economies in other parts of the world too?

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After my dinner at Romdeng Restaurant, I paid a visit to one of the many edible insect food stalls found on the streets of Phnom Penh. Read here about my experience, and see below for some of the insect delicacies I discovered. (All captions refer to the corresponding picture above it.)

Me standing behind the edible insect street stand

Fried Beetle

Fried Insect of the Orthopteran Order

Fried Locust

Fried Silkworm

Fried Cricket, Pepper and Onion

Fried Cricket in spices (front) and Fried Water Bug (Back)

Fried Water Bug

Fried Cricket in spices

Fried Insect of the Orthopteran Order

Fried Beetle

Fried Cricket