Grubs Up!

JUNGLE FOOD - THE SUSTAINABLE FOOD OF THE FUTURE

Would you be prepared to swap your daily snack of carbohydrate and fat heavy crisps to protein-rich, crispy crickets?

What if I told you this simple change could help reduce our impact on the earth, providing a more sustainable future, as well as enriching our diets.

Unfortunately, many of us associate eating insects with nasty bush tucker trials from popular jungle reality shows. So, it might be surprising to know that more than 2 billion people in 113 countries consume insects daily. Yet western countries still have this ridged stigma against eating bugs and grub due to its ‘icky-ness’.

With a continually growing population expected to be >9 billion by 2050, it becomes a concerning issue just how sustainable our current lifestyles are. Future food security is at risk and scientists are searching for a safe, clean and nutritional alternative that is urgently needed.

With 2000+ edible insects to choose from, each providing nutritional, environmental and economic benefits, could insects be the secret ingredients to a sustainable future?

Research shows that 10kg of feed produces 6kg of crickets, which is considerably higher than what 10kg of feed produces for chicken(4kg), pork(2kg), and beef(1kg).

Food production requires lots of land, which is a limited resource. The lower feed needs of insects, reduces the amount of land needed for production compared to other livestock. So, insects can easily and quickly be produced to fulfil large demands.

Insect farming is thought of as environmentally friendly, having a lower environmental footprint than traditional farming; there is less waste and greenhouse gasses, smaller energy input and requires less water. Insects can be raised on organic waste, which could increase profitability for farmers, helping to boost local economies.

Edible insects provide you with a higher nutritional value than many plants and animal foods. The meat is rich in protein, carbohydrates, fat and essential nutrients. Containing approximately 60% protein, insects are effective at transforming decaying plant or animal material and water into proteins.

Eating insects contributes positively to the environment, as well as the sustainability of human society. The study was limited to crickets and meal-worms, which are commonly used as feed and currently are the only established rearing systems for insect production.

The climate scenarios and models from this study can be used to help formulate future food policies. The models allow countries to see if it is possible to provide enough food for the population from the available livestock or if it should expand its insect production to ease land demand.

Further studies need to consider food trade between countries to make more accurate predictions for food production. The research shows that insect meat must be used alongside other solutions to achieve food security.

People’s views need to change to overcome eating alternative foods such as crispy-crickets and deep-fried-locusts. Insects are considered traditional in many countries. We are happy to consume by-products such as honey from bees then why not be try eating insects too?

Keep an eye out for delicious recipes to follow

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