Summer 2020 is already a distant memory and we have taken out the last of the plants from the vegetable garden. All that is left is the kale. Last year this served us all though the winter into the spring.
This year I have noticed that on the underside of the kale leaves there are lots of small white insect eggs, about 1 mm in diameter. I didn’t notice them last year, but perhaps they were there then as well… The leaves themselves are in good shape except for all of those eggs. If I scrub the leaves under running water I can get the eggs off. Or at least most of the eggs. There are always a few left.
I love my kale and don’t want to give up on the only garden produce I have during the winter. Is it OK to eat a few insect eggs?
In fact, government regulations permit a certain amount of “insect parts” in a lot of foods because they’re almost impossible to get rid of. Most likely they’re either aphids or cabbage butterfly eggs, neither of which are toxic to humans although they can, potentially, cause an allergic reaction in some individuals. (Note that the caterpillars of the cabbage butterfly do accumulate toxins, so don’t eat them.)
I prefer to remove that sort of thing just because of the squick factor but I don’t worry overmuch. You’ve been eating bits and pieces of that sort of thing all your life.
When I used to grow broccoli, Mrs. J. would be grossed out upon boiling it when little green cabbage worms would drift to the surface. They were easily removed but we probably ingested a little extra protein from the few we missed.
A few insect eggs, no problem. They hardly ever hatch in your gastrointestinal tract.
I love home-grown produce, but I am extremely squicked by worms in my food. We have wild blackberries in our yard, and I will eat them in the early season, but then they start getting little worms and I just can’t anymore. The same with blueberries. If I know a given handful of berries likely contains visible worms I just can’t.
Intellectually, I know I eat those things all the time. But psychologically those are to be avoided at all costs.
My kale seems susceptible to aphids. In summer you can release some ladybugs to take care of this. There are a variety of options otherwise: How to Make Homemade Sprays for Fighting Aphids for example. Plus washing the leaves, which is easiest.
Additionally - such insect protein can help stave of B12 deficiency in strict vegans, so really they’re added nutrition. Even if we don’t want to think about them.
I remember walking by an abandoned yard and right by the sidewalk seeing an enormous wild mustard bush (first cousin to your kale). I picked it and presented it to my wife who cooked it up with lentils and we had a vegan meal that night. Afterwards, she mentioned that it was full of ants, so it wasn’t quite vegan after all.