Maggot ranches

You dawgs.  The power of words to stir men's souls, lost visions of the future, and you can't think of anything to write about?  My goodness.  I don't know. I just don't know.

Gee, Uncle Ken.  Sorry to be such a disappointment but the topic of cars in general is one of those few areas that we have shared experiences, whether good or bad.  Mr. Beagles and I could ruminate on past army experiences, but that leaves you out in the cold.  Or you and I could yammer back and forth about the current political situations, which I think Mr. Beagles finds a bit distasteful, and quite rightly so.  You get my drift, but what to do about it?  I'm content with everyone throwing ideas out there, topics which we, as individuals, find interesting, significant, or just plain curious or weird enough to possibly merit further discussion.  Not all will be winners, but once in a while something will stick, and that's good enough for me.

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So, do you guys like maggots in your food?  Brace yourself, it may be a coming thing.  There's a South African company that has been developing maggot ranches using the Black Soldier fly, which is not considered a pest.  The adult flies don't have any mouth parts and only live a few days, just long enough to mate, and don't hang around any food sources.   But the maggots are voracious eaters of any vegetation or food waste which would otherwise decompose and produce methane, one of those greenhouse gases that has the climatologists in such a tizzy.  Anyhow, the maggots are harvested to produce feed for poultry and fish farms.  Once dried out, they can be processed to produce maggot oil, which can be used to produce bio-diesel fuel or soil supplements.  Oh, all this stuff is considered fit for human consumption. It must be a booming business, as the minimum quantity for maggot oil is a 55 gallon drum.

If you want to learn more, check out AgriProtein, and here is a quote I pulled about the Black Soldier fly maggot:

 "When you cook them, they smell a bit like cooked potatoes. The consistency is a bit harder on the outside and like soft meat on the inside. The taste is nutty and a bit meaty."

Yum!  I think I'll take a pass on this one but I will start examining food labels very closely.

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On a more palatable note, it is agreed that we all like beer, correct?  Here is something from the good folks at The Telegraph in the UK: A pint of beer could release creative block, say scientists.

"Downing a pint of beer for men, or around 350ml for women, boosted test scores in 132 men and women who were given a range of creative tasks. In one word association test, alcohol increased test scores by around 40 per cent."

Sadly, more than one pint hinders the creative process.  There's always some kind of loophole isn't there?  Who wants to stop at one pint?  If you limit yourself to one pint make sure it's a good one.