James,
In reference to eating bugs: Jews who settled in Yemen after the destruction of the first Temple and stayed there until the 1960s had the tradition of eating and
identifying the kosher locusts. My Temani (Yemeni) friend in Kollel did not know what the identifiers were.
As for kosher and survival, I quote my old Rav from Portland, Oregon “If someone held a gun to my head and said ‘Eat that pork chop!’ my answer would be ‘where’s the
catsup?'” Your Maker and Keeper wants you to live so you can glorify him, the mitzvah of saving a life includes your own.- David