A Bug's Life

Entomaphagy: the consumption of insects. Not so appetizing? Megan Miller weighs in:

What if eating insects could help solve world hunger? According to a report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in May 2013, incorporating insects as part of our diet could not only help solve the global food crisis but provide other environmental and economic benefits. The human population is continuing to grow and the current estimate is that the population will be at 9 billion by the year 2050. That's a lot of mouths to feed! In fact, to provide enough food for 9 billion people we would need to nearly double the world's food production.

Unfortunately, our current food production system is not sustainable and far from efficient, especially when it comes to meat. Livestock production accounts for 70% of agricultural land use globally and it is also responsible for 18% of our green house gas emissions. Raising edible insects as part of our food source is far more efficient and far more sustainable. Insects could be fed using organic waste, would require far less land and would produce considerably less methane, ammonia, waste (urine and manure), and other forms of pollution. The FAO estimates that if we globally incorporate insects in to our diets we could reduce green house gas emissions by 18%.

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Insects have a high feed conversion efficiency which is partly due to the fact that they’re cold blooded and do not require a lot of additional food that they burn off as energy. Crickets in particular are a great example of this high feed conversion. Crickets need half as much feed as pigs and chickens, 4 times less feed than sheep, and 12 times less feed than cattle to produce the same amount of protein!

Speaking of protein, let's talk a bit about nutrition. Nutritional values vary amongst different kinds of insects but many edible insects are very high in protein, essential fatty acids, fibre, iron, zinc and other minerals and micro nutrients. The FAO points out that more consumption of edible insects worldwide could help improve food and nutritional security as well as prevent many diseases that are products of malnutrition.

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Insects are part of the diets of about 2 billion people worldwide and the reason we don’t eat them in most of the Western world is largely cultural. There is the issue of the "ick factor." In the United States we think of bugs as dirty, as pests, and culturally as part of the diet of more “primitive” people. Now eating insects doesn’t necessarily mean picking bugs out of your garden and chowing down. There would have to be FDA regulations since many insects can carry disease and those not raised for food could also be exposed to pesticides. Megan Miller also points out that insects do not need to be eaten whole. The emerging trend of cricket flour is a way to get the benefits without as much of the "ick factor." Some companies are beginning to incorporate insects in to protein bars and view this as a way to ease people in to eating insects. As Gabi Lewis, co-chief executive officer of Exo, puts it "sushi did it with the California roll, an easy, introductory vehicle to ease people into the idea of raw fish. That's how we view this protein bar. It's the gateway bug."

Besides efficiency, sustainability, and nutritional benefits, the U.N. report emphasizes another benefit of eating bugs: it could lower the average cost of food globally by 33%.  That number is nothing to turn up your nose at, especially when considering a future with 9 billion humans on the planet. Just some food for thought.

photograph by Julian Woods for Bloomberg Businessweek