Beetles, caterpillars and wasps could supplement diets around the world as an environmentally friendly food source if only Western consumers could get over their "disgust", the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Monday. "The main message is really: 'Eat insects'", Eva Mueller, director of forest economics at the FAO, told a press conference in Rome.
"Insects are abundant and they are a valuable source of protein and minerals," she said. "Two billion people - a third of the world's population - are already eating insects because they are delicious and nutritious," she said. Also speaking at the press conference was Gabon Forestry Minister Gabriel Tchango who said: "Insect consumption is part of our daily life." He said some insects - like beetle larvae and grilled termites - were delicacies. "Insects contribute about 10 percent of animal protein consumed by the population," he said.
The report said insect farming was "one of the many ways to address food and feed insecurity". "Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly, and they have high growth and feed conversion rates and a low environmental footprint," said the report, co-authored by the FAO and Wageningen University in the Netherlands. But the authors admitted that "consumer disgust remains one of the largest barriers to the adoption of insects as viable sources of protein in many Western countries". It suggested that the food industry could help in "raising the status of insects" by including them in recipes and putting them on restaurant menus.
Comments
Comments are closed.