Free Republic

The beady eyes in my taco glare back amid the citrus salsa and avocado, and peek out from behind a leaf of cilantro. The first bite is crunchy, and faintly nutty, like toasted corn — if toasted corn came with six legs and a pair of wings. Before long I’m popping individual fried locusts into my mouth like peanuts. But this isn’t a street stall in Oaxaca, Mexico. I’m in my Jerusalem apartment and my girlfriend is having a conniption over the pile of disembodied grasshopper legs I’ve left on the chopping board in the kitchen. Over the phone, my...

Sacramento, Calif. (AP) -- California officials have released thousands of insects in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to combat an invasive weed that has clogged the waterway. The state Department of Food and Agriculture let more than 5,000 water hyacinth plant hoppers go at several locations in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties this month. Officials hope the insects, which are native to South America, will establish self-sustaining colonies and begin chomping down on water hyacinth. The invasive plant forms a dense carpet on the surface of waterways, impeding boat access and clogging water intake systems.