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Consuming insects is already an everyday practice for two billion people worldwide, largely in the global east and south. Rearing them uses less land, energy, water and produces fewer greenhouse gases than traditional meats like chicken and beef, and more of their body is digestible (80-100 percent, compared to only 40 percent for beef).
They are also better for us: they are rich in protein, fat, and energy and can be a significant source of vitamins and minerals. But the Western world has still not embraced this wonder food.
Researchers think they know why: the 'disgust' factor. Insects are gross. The more interesting question is: given the enormous benefits, how can we convince people to get over the grossness?
The article argues that eating sushi and lobster was once considered disgusting, too.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Thursday May 16 2019, @02:31PM
Not quite - ethics and environmental impact are also major considerations. Insects are generally accepted to be far less aware and feeling (sentient) than mammals, poultry, or even fish, and so the ethical concerns of farming and eating them are far lower.
More practically, they're far more efficient at converting human-useless plant biomass into protein - at about 90% as compared to 10% for a cow or 30% for a pig (IIRC). There's also a lot less waste - only about 50% of a farm animal is actually edible, the rest being skin, bones, and offal, and they produce a prodigious stream of waste while alive, including a huge amount of greenhouse gasses. Insects can also be grown far more densely, and without antibiotics or hormones and their contingent health risks. And their metabolisms are sufficiently alien to our own that it's all but impossible for diseases to jump to our species - and farm animals living in close proximity to humans is the source of a huge percentage of new disease strains - the annual new species of influenza probably being the most well-known.
Even feeding the exact same population, if we can drastically reduce land usage while eliminating the dangers of heavy antibiotic usage, farm runoff, greenhouse gasses, inter-species disease hybridization, etc. that's a huge win for everyone.
The only potential down side is aesthetics - and that's a cultural thing. It wasn't that long ago that larger "bugs" such as shrimp, crabs, and lobster were considered unfit to eat in the Western world, now they've become delicacies. In cultures where eating insects is commonplace, many insects are similarly considered delicacies to be sought out, even when they're more expensive than beef or pork.