These Are the Top States to Sample Edible Insect and Wildlife Cuisine

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.

To highlight the growing interest in foraging and harvesting edible species, LawnStarter ranked the top states to try edible insect and wildlife cuisine.

We compared all 50 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia, based on four categories. We considered the number of edible species, restaurants serving insects, and Google search interest, among eight total metrics.

Dig into our following ranking. To learn how we ranked the states, see our methodology section at the end.

15. Arizona

• Overall Score: 41.61
• Access Rank: 16
• Climate Rank: 39
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 12

14. Wisconsin

• Overall Score: 41.92
• Access Rank: 18
• Climate Rank: 16
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 20

13. Nebraska

• Overall Score: 42.37
• Access Rank: 12
• Climate Rank: 21
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 35

12. Pennsylvania

• Overall Score: 44.65
• Access Rank: 16
• Climate Rank: 15
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 6

11. Texas

• Overall Score: 44.81
• Access Rank: 11
• Climate Rank: 51
• Regulatory Rank: 45
• Interest Rank: 2

10. Ohio

• Overall Score: 44.88
• Access Rank: 13
• Climate Rank: 26
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 8

9. Georgia

• Overall Score: 46.41
• Access Rank: 6
• Climate Rank: 47
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 8

8. Illinois

• Overall Score: 47.33
• Access Rank: 9
• Climate Rank: 27
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 5

7. Massachusetts

• Overall Score: 48.48
• Access Rank: 7
• Climate Rank: 2
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 15

6. Virginia

• Overall Score: 48.68
• Access Rank: 5
• Climate Rank: 17
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 12

5. Florida

• Overall Score: 48.91
• Access Rank: 9
• Climate Rank: 43
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 3

4. Minnesota

• Overall Score: 49.87
• Access Rank: 4
• Climate Rank: 11
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 20

3. North Carolina

• Overall Score: 53.86
• Access Rank: 3
• Climate Rank: 18
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 6

2. New York

• Overall Score: 62.57
• Access Rank: 1
• Climate Rank: 29
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 4

1. California

• Overall Score: 69.66
• Access Rank: 2
• Climate Rank: 8
• Regulatory Rank: 3
• Interest Rank: 1

Methodology

First, we determined the factors (metrics) that are most relevant to rank the top states to try edible insect and wildlife cuisine. We then assigned a weight to each factor based on its importance and grouped those factors into four categories:

• Access
• Climate
• Regulatory
• Interest

Here are the factors:

• Number of Invasive Edible Species
• Number of Animals Legal to Hunt
• Food Establishments Serving Edible Insects
• Percentage of Sunshine
• Number of Very Hot Days
• Incidence of Rabies
• Roadkill Legality
• Google Search Interest

For each of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, we then gathered data on each factor.

Finally, we calculated scores (out of 100 points) for each state to determine its rank in each factor, each category, and overall. A state’s Overall Score is the average of its scores across all factors and categories. The highest Overall Score ranked “Best” (No. 1).