The Economist is promoting entomophagy, but I have my doubts. Yes, insects are nutritious. Yes other food is expensive. And maybe eating insects “is common in some 113 countries”. But the fact of the matter is that in other countries, I doubt that it is going to happen any time soon, no matter how good it might be for us, for the planet, for everything. I’ve eaten my share of insects; fried locusts are a favourite. And Luigi likes the odd mopane worm. We’re both entirely happy with decapod crustaceans too. But it is my considered view that outside of those 113 countries, insects are going to continue to be a hard sell.
I think a great way to utilize fast-growing high-protein insects is to cycle them through another animals. There has been some research into using insects to create fish food for aquaculture. I’d be surprised if it could’t be used in chicken feed as well.
Watch this: http://www.geobrief.tv/movies/376016.html.
Nice, Jacob. Such an elegant way to feed chickens – from waste to eggs, turning an inedible to an edible. I bet the same could be achieved with compost instead of manure, if one wanted to cut out a step. I don’t see why it couldn’t be adapted for larger scales. I hope these guys are still looking at their fish food idea as well http://msucares.com/news/print/fwnews/fw07/071129.html.