’Tis the season. The emergence of the 17-year cicada — known to bug aficionados as “Brood X” — has brought out the buggy in the bug advocates, giving leftists everywhere yet another opportunity to dream big about Americans chowing down on insects. It’s a creepy-crawly kind of virtue-signaling, as liberal insect promoters chirp at each other like locusts in a cornfield:

Wired: “The Cicadas Are Coming. Let’s Eat Them! Why Not Embrace Brood X as the Free-Range, Sustainable Source of Protein That It Truly Is?”

Axios: “The Emergence of Brood X Cicadas Is Renewing Calls for One Very Simple Way to Deal With Insect Populations: Eat Them.” Axios gives eating insects liberalism’s highest praise: “a sustainable protein source.” Ooooh, sustainable; the Good Bug-Eating Seal of Approval.

npr: “Earth Notes: Eat More Bugs.”

The Washington Post: “Can You Eat Cicadas? Yes, And Here’s the Best Way to Catch, Cook, and Snack on Them.”

AP: “The Cicadas Are Coming — and They’re Packed With Protein and Gluten-Free.”

Vox: “As humans gradually realize we need to cut back on traditional meat consumption for the sake of the planet, eating bugs — primarily crickets and mealworms — has become a buzzy, green alternative.” Because they’re “an ethical, environmentally friendly source of protein.”

Popular Science: “You Should Start Eating Bugs. Here’s How.”

nbc News: “Cicada Pizza, Tacos, and Sushi Are Being Gobbled Up. Why Americans Are Finally Eating Bugs.” Finally!

And buried in each of these bizarre articles is the real reason leftists get off on the bug thing. Other countries eat bugs! Other cultures, which are clearly superior to ours. Because America is so awful and unenlightened we don’t even eat bugs. As Popular Science puts it, bug consumption “is a cornerstone to different cuisines around the world, including those of Latin American, Asian, and African countries.” Vox rhapsodizes:

Some cultures, encompassing some 2 billion people around the world, already eat bugs. Mopane worms and shea caterpillars are routinely farmed and eaten (the former in South Africa and Zimbabwe, the latter in Burkina Faso and Mali), as is the African edible bush-cricket, which is commonly consumed in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Madagascar. Wild insect gathering for food for either subsistence or sale is common throughout East Asia and the Pacific, from India to Indonesia to Japan to Australia. In the northwest Amazon region of South America, somewhere between 5 and 7 percent of total protein comes from insects.

You can just feel the envy! WaPo: “Cicadas are eaten in many other cultures. They have also historically been a food source for some Native American tribes.” Indigenous peoples! Well, that’s the height of oneness with nature, isn’t it? The standard we must all strive to meet.

nbc scolds: “Newsflash, America: Almost everybody eats bugs but us… In fact, insects are a staple of diets around the world, and we’re just catching up… We’re just now starting to truly understand the positive impact that deliciousness can have on the planet.”

Besides, not eating bugs is, well, racist. “Where we once might have used novel foods to distance ourselves from ‘others,’ our food culture is now defined by the very diversity that makes this country great.” As we save the planet from unsustainable, greenhouse-farting beef! Insects are pure, emission-free, and liberal-approved. So pop that on your burger and chew it.