Professor urges students to eat species widely considered 'harmful': 'We eat what we've been studying'

An ecology professor at Virginia Tech University has been inviting students to tap into an abundant natural food resource. 

According to Popular Science, Jacob Barney has been hosting potluck dinners for his students, but with one catch: the dishes they brought had to use invasive species as ingredients. Prickly pear cactus fruit and kudzu vine have made appearances. He described the wild hog sausage one student brought as "delicious."

"By definition, invasive species are harmful in some regard," he said, per Popular Science. "We turn that harm into something positive. … I like to say it's where we eat what we've been studying." 

Elsewhere, enterprising chefs have also latched onto the trend of using invasive species for good. Lionfish has become a target for both kitchens and competitions on the East Coast, for example. 

Invasive species are a massive problem. When a plant or animal is moved from one habitat to another, it can be freed of the predators that kept it in check. Humans are typically the source of transportation for these invaders, either as a meaningful transplant for harvesting, an ornamental inclusion, or as an unintended passenger. 

Without the counterbalance of predators it evolved alongside, a species can outcompete others in its new home, establish monopolies on vital resources, and over time push out native species. This leads to a downward trend in biodiversity and can incur huge costs. One estimate suggested that worldwide, invasive species cause hundreds of billions of dollars in annual costs.

You can help prevent the spread of invasive species by researching the plants you put in your garden. By skipping exotic species and sticking with native plants, you're not only sparing the local ecosystem, but you're also propping up native animals with the plants they've evolved with. Better still, native plants are well-suited for the local climate, making them low-maintenance and drought-resistant.   

While individuals seeking out invasive plants and animals for dinner is a good thing, Barney was more interested in seeing industrialized harvesting. 

"That's the kind of scale that I think can have a meaningful impact," he said, per Popular Science.

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