COLUMBUS, Ohio — Chronic hunger and malnutrition continue to be a widespread issue in the developing world. Although many perceive insects as a creepy, slimy nuisance, the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization is asking the world to look at crawlers in a different light – as a potential solution to reducing food insecurity all over the globe.
Vonglokam Phouvanh, a representative from the FAO explained the benefits of insect cuisine noting, “Insects can provide a good source of protein, fats, carbohydrates, calcium, vitamins and other minerals–this is an essential part of human nutrition.” Apart from being feasted on as a main dish, insects can be ground up into power or paste and incorporated into other foods.
Some of the most commonly consumed insects today include beetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, locusts and crickets.
The FAO published a book entitled Edible Insects: Future prospects for food and feed security, which discusses how farming insects for human and animal consumption is particularly relevant at a time when population growth, urbanization and the rising middle class have increased the demand for food while concurrently harming the environment that facilitates its production.
The book not only stresses the nutritional benefits of insects as a source of food, but outlines how insect farming could help the environment. Current farming practices lend to land and water pollution due to livestock production and over-grazing. This in turn leads to deforestation and contributes to the negative effects of climate change. Farming pigs can produce as much as 100 times more greenhouse gas per kilogram than mealworms.
In addition, insects feed on bio-waste, drink less water than livestock, and are easier to farm than animals.
Another reason spreading the insect craze would be feasible comes in the fact that many countries already consider insects a delicacy. Currently, insects supplement the diets of nearly two billion people, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Urban cities such as Bangkok and Kinshasa have a very high demand for insect cuisine as people enjoy the taste.
The FAO committee is working to capitalize on this opportunity, ensuring sustainability for this emerging resource. The FAO program will continue to focus on the entire cycle – from bug breeding to commercialization and consumption.
Currently, there is little experience in insect farming, making it a challenging but hopeful goal for a growing population to undertake. Producers who are in the market already are working to develop and incorporate insects into menus and processed foods.
There are still many challenges to be addressed for this rising enterprise: mass-production technology still needs progress, allergies to certain species need to be explored and legislation must be enacted as it pertains to farming practices.
Nevertheless, breeding and consuming insects on a large scale is not an unattainable goal. In an interview with IRIN, vice-minister of planning, Bouthavy Sisouphanthong emphasized the value in the viability of insect farming stating, “you don’t need to have lots of land, you don’t need lots of equipment and you don’t need that much knowledge, and then you can make a business.” Methods could be particularly successful in remote, rural areas.
Despite some consumers hesitation and repugnance, the FAO believes that insects are currently an untapped resource for minimizing hunger.
Afon Halloran, a consultant for the FAO sums up the undeniable prospect for this very real solution, stating, “Domesticating and rearing insects can help sustain insect populations while also helping counter nutritional insecurity and improve livelihoods.”
– Caroline Logan
Sources: United Nations, IRIN News
Photo: Israel Foreign Affairs