Written by: Muhammad Shafay Tanveer Hassan
What is Entomophagy?
Entomophagy (eating insects) is a widespread practice in many nations and has been carried out for centuries, whether culturally or due to need. Insects that one sees in his/her daily routine, such as cockroaches, crickets, and bees, and insects hidden in plain sight, such as the Sorghum and melon bugs, are eaten and used for different purposes. Although entomophagy has Fig 1. A dish made of insects been a part of traditional diets in many cultures worldwide for thousands of years, and eating them offers potential nutritional benefits, it is still uncertain whether insects should be eaten. Many Western societies still consider it an unusual and “barbarous” practice. This has raised questions about whether it only benefits the big business companies wanting profit, and especially if insects are worth the effort.
Origin
It is said that food production and agriculture started from the fertile crescent, western Asia, and the Nile Valley, and a wide variety of animals and plants were domesticated. Mammals, like goats and cows, were highly used, providing certain benefits, such as good quality meat, milk, and transport. As a result, agriculture experienced incredible gains in prosperity and efficiency. Food could now be stocked; the hunter-gatherer lifestyle eventually took a back seat to sedentary lifestyles dependent on farming, resulting in more stable supplies. “This pivotal change in lifestyle, combined with the uncertain nature of insects as a seasonal staple food, might have contributed to the loss of interest in insects as food” (DeFoliart 1999).
Benefits of Eating Insects
Insects are mineral-rich sources and can be effectively farmed with a low environmental impact. From trace elements, primary sources, like copper, iron, and magnesium, to vitamins like folic acid, insects consist of all. Take 100 grams of insects, for example; they have around 30 grams of protein, while an egg of the same mass has around 13 grams. This shows there is a massive difference in the nutritional content concerning the investment spent.
Figure 2. Benefits of Eating Insects
Effective harvesting techniques, such as research on the subject insect “feed substrates and rearing methodologies” to ensure insect breeding is capable and sustainable and an “update of legalities and regulations that were initially developed for ruminant, pig, and poultry livestock,” to include insect farming for food and feed sensibly will ensure the quality of the product that is acceptable and recommended by customers (House 2016). If the harvest turns out to be a success, it can be sold economically to developing nations, which can then save billions of dollars.
For example, Innova-feed’s new plant in France makes 15000 tonnes of insect protein and can serve 75 million people. The company also claims that cultivating worms in their vertical farm uses 98 percent less land, significantly reducing protein production's carbon and biodiversity impacts (Euro-news 2020). If a single industry can have a massive impact, imagine what ten such plants would do! Not only is it a benefit to the economy but also to our polluted atmosphere. Rearing livestock requires more food and space. Their waste is burned as fuel and washed away in drains, increasing the carbon dioxide content, increasing temperature, and allowing for stunted plant growth because of the chemical composition.
Problems Associated with Entomophagy
According to “Insects as Food and Feed: European Perspectives on Recent Research and Future Priorities,” insect-eating is not a good option. Not only do the big corporations benefit from spreading insects, but harvesting insects on a large scale can also be relatively more dangerous than livestock harvest.
Features such as location, substrates, and use of organic wastes significantly impact the overall continuity of insect farming. Moreover, pathogenic transfers and uncertainty of insect mineral contents can lead to complex consumer problems (Josephs 2016). Hence, it is recommended by scientists and environmentalists that food safety issues (e.g., pathogens, toxins, metals, and pesticides) are associated with edible insects to prevent hazards and inform the respective authorities of constructive legislation to adjust the use of insects as food (Payne 2016).
In addition, the edible insect industry is steadily rising. Its promotion is frequently followed by promises that insects as food and feed may address significant food shortages and malnutrition issues. It is thus suggested not to initiate huge harvesting plants and advertisement campaigns unless proper research is conducted. The edible insect industry can also pose a real hindrance to global food insecurity if we, its “actors,” accept the social and political consequences of current achievements and work to ensure that we are not merely producing problematic power disparities and unsustainable patterns of food consumption and production (Muller 2016).
The hate does not stop here. Over a hundred companies across the world sell and advertise insects to a historically non-insect-eating demographic region and implement diverse strategies to market their products. Such companies, however, face a “clear set of challenges that must be overcome: legislative barriers, varying media coverage of insects as food, negative consumer attitudes, and an arms race to develop efficient farming technology that may prove difficult for smaller emerging start-ups” (Jonas 2016).
Some companies also make fake patents and start selling insect-based products with the title “Edible insects, the way forward!” resulting in a challenge for the purity of the product in the market. These challenges are worsened by a lack of knowledge in critical areas, such as the “association between shellfish and insect allergens, a newer concept to many, the feasibility of low-cost feed substrates, and their impact on insect nutritional content” (McBride 2016).
Moreover, eating insects causes problems for some Western and Asian nations and big food companies. In Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and their neighboring areas, insects are not preferred in a diluted way. A more robust version of the hate is seen in the West. There exists an “ick factor” in many Western nations, and they call insects “noxious” creatures (House 2016). Daniella Martin, a US advocate for insect consumption, has declared this “the biggest obstacle” (Conversation 2016) to Western approval of insects as food.
Therefore, convincing the reluctant public to eat insects is not the rightful approach for broader acceptance. Instead, research has shown that whenever a new food is to be launched and advertised, a handful of people first add the new “species” into their diets. Eventually, the market spreads through people's interactions and social trends. Sushi is an example of this. Successful inauguration of new food, no matter how new or rare, relies on relatively straightforward and conventional considerations such as availability, price, taste, and how easily it can be cooked. Jonas’s research found that the same principles apply to the “fly and insect burgers and other insect-based convenience foods which have been on sale in a Dutch supermarket chain, Jumbo, since late 2014” (The Conversation 2016).
Is it feasible in the long term?
Despite significant debates and research on whether entomophagy is a viable option for the future, giving time seems like the best approach. To fully comprehend the dietary situations, one must follow the path of logic and practicality to discern every characteristic thoroughly.
Entomophagy, although not currently, will soon be a hot topic of discussion. There will be a war of corporations: some food companies will rise, while some will cease to exist. As a boosting strategy, livestock and insect harvests will be compared, and the more beneficial ones will be sold at a higher rate, making the food industries huge profits. While economies may benefit, and there may be a far more significant amount of nutritious food to eat for a broader population, eating insects has far more uncertainties. Since it is an emerging and unknown idea in many nations worldwide, many will undoubtedly reject entomophagy.
The Muslim nations are reluctant to eat insects as they have not eaten them for centuries. The West calls the insects a vile species and prefers their dietary ways. This reduces the number of countries favoring insects to a few – China, the Indomalaya islands, and some South African nations. Also, there exists a religious and cultural line between these nations. International Food corporations, such as Nestle and Unilever, will thus be confused about what to offer to make the business survive. While debates on insect eating will persist, the present situation defines the next step. Although insects have many benefits over traditional livestock and seafood, proper research and economic stability are reasons why including insects in the staple diet is not an appealing option for the future of food.
Bibliography
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