Eating Termites Will Help The Environment

Cattle and pigs create methane, which is among the most plentiful greenhouse gases. It has been suggested that humans eat insects to help lessen these emissions. 

In a paper titled “Insects as food and medicine: a sustainable solution for global health and environmental challenges,” the authors wrote, “Compared to conventional animal farming, the production of insects for food and feed generates significantly less greenhouse gas emissions and uses considerably less land.”

About 2.5 people around the world rely on insects as part of their diets. The “edible insect” business will drive $3 billion worldwide in revenue by 2030. That makes it a very, very small company; however, the benefits, whether from inside this sector or outside, are tremendous.

Which Insects

Some insect diets are more effective than others. Starting with the fact that there are 2,100 species of edible insects, those widely available with the highest protein levels are “In terms of dry matter, the protein content of edible insects ranges between 35.3 and 61.3% for Blattodea (termites) and Orthoptera (crickets, grasshoppers, locusts), respectively .” Many also have antioxidant benefits. 

Where would a widening of eating habits be beneficial? Obviously, in the areas where people already have a partially insect-based diet. However, moving to the US, Canada, and virtually all of Europe, it would be a hard sell. And these are the places where meat consumption is unusually high.

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