Insects | TableDebates

Image: Dennis Kress, Larvae of the black soldier fly, Wikimedia, Public Domain

First insect-fed salmon launched

The world’s first insect-fed salmon has been launched by insect producer Protix.

Image: Dean Morley, Cricket, Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Why eating insects won't end world hunger

Insects may not be the environmentally-friendly alternative protein source that the FAO and many entrepreneurs hope, according to Oxford University doctoral candidate Joshua Evans.

Image: World’s Direction, Doughnuts, Flickr, Creative Commons 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Special report: future of the food industry

The Financial Times explores several emerging trends in the global food industry, including eating insects, new retail models in China, sugar taxes, food waste monitoring and genetically modified crops and animals.

Photo: Sarah, A Tasty Snack, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

Could consumption of insects, cultured meat or imitation meat reduce global agricultural land use?

This paper compares stylised, hypothetical dietary scenarios to assess the potential for reducing agricultural land requirements. It suggests that a combination of smaller shifts in consumer diet behaviour – such as reducing beef consumption by replacing with chicken, introducing insects into mainstream diets and reducing consumer waste – could reduce agricultural land requirements.

Photo: Kelly Mercer, Edible crickets, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

Life cycle assessment of cricket farming in north-eastern Thailand

In this paper FCRN member Afton Halloran and colleagues Hanboonsong, Roos and Bruun present a life cycle assessment of insect farming, based on their research on cricket and broiler farms in north-eastern Thailand as well as a socio-economic impact analysis of this production.

Insect food stall, Wikimedia Commons

Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review

While insects have physiological and biological differences which make them more efficient than traditional livestock species, little information exists pertaining to the factors which influence the assessment of the environmental sustainability of insects and their subsequent production systems.

Investors call for new business outlook on protein sourcing: more plants, less meat

A group of investors, worth $1.25 trillion, has contributed to a report calling for food companies to change the way in which they include protein in their products to reduce environmental risk. The FAIRR initiative’s report – The Future of Food: The Investment Case for a Protein Shake Up – argues that forward-looking investors and businesses should act now to help shape a new market in sustainable protein, with less of this macronutrient coming from animals, and more from plants (and perhaps from insects and algae).

Sustainable Protein Sources

This books provides a first reference on dietary proteins that covers the land, water, and energy usage inputs, nutritive outputs, and food applications of plant and other non-meat proteins.

Black soldier flies on a wall. Photo by James Tiono via Unsplash.

Part 2 in Edible Insects for Food and Feed Series: Overview of insect farming; Where, What Species and Areas for Future Research

In this piece, Wendy Lu McGill expands on her overview of insect farming by diving into the nuances of regional variance. You can read her first piece on insect cultivation here. Wendy is a PhD researcher at the Plant and Agribiosciences Research Centre (PABC) working with Prof. Charles Spillane and Dr. Peter McKeown at the National University of Ireland Galway.