Normally, we get to the end of a year and if we’ve managed to ingest minimal insect matter, we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves. At least we’ve succeeded in one aspect of our lives.
But Bloomberg Opinion doesn’t think it’s anything to celebrate.
In fact, what we should be celebrating is the opposite:
The European Union’s landmark decision to approve insects for human consumption was a victory for maggots and people everywhere.
It paves the way for an alternative protein source that should play a critical role in feeding a hotter, more populous world https://t.co/gYy24njjhQ
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) December 29, 2021
“A victory for maggots and people everywhere.” Is forgoing yummy kinds of protein like steak in favor of mealworms really a victory, though?
For most consumers, the EU decision won’t translate to bugs in your burgers and mealworms in your macaroni.
Insects will play a far more integral role in human food systems going forward.
But they won’t likely be a direct form of protein https://t.co/tI0dJBIuKY pic.twitter.com/0X6ZSx6bil
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) December 29, 2021
🐛 Insects are becoming an increasingly valuable indirect food source — a feedstock for poultry, farmed fish, pork and beef which are currently fattened on environmentally costly soy and corn feeds https://t.co/tI0dJBIuKY
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) December 29, 2021
Humans have been consuming edible insects — from crickets and grasshoppers to fire ants and termites — since before the dawn of civilization.
About 80% of the world’s population throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America, continues to eat bugs today https://t.co/tI0dJBIuKY pic.twitter.com/QHaoHAR8lC
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) December 29, 2021
And that’s great for those people! If they like to eat bugs, more power to ’em!
There are also a lot of people out there in the world who, if given a choice, would choose not to eat bugs.
In 2020, global investments in insect protein nearly doubled to about $475 million.
The animal feed industry is vastly bigger and relies heavily on water and carbon-intensive farming of grains https://t.co/tI0dJBIuKY
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) December 29, 2021
Insect-based animal feeds could be this industry’s best shot at building climate resilience, while also helping to manage a food waste crisis.
The environmental benefits of insect proteins both for human and animal consumption are astoundinghttps://t.co/tI0dJBIuKY
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) December 29, 2021
Black soldier fly larvae hold promise: These bugs serve as high-quality chicken and fish feed and require 1,000 times less land per unit of protein produced compared to soy production, between 50 and 100 times less water, and zero agrochemical inputs https://t.co/tI0dJBIuKY
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) December 29, 2021
Insect proteins remain a tiny fraction of the total animal-feed market.
It can shift our food-system paradigm toward sustainability, and this incipient industry has huge economic and environmental potential https://t.co/tI0dJBIuKY
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) December 29, 2021
That’s great. Just dynamite.
We still don’t want to eat bugs.
I regret to inform you the EAT MOAR BUGS people are at it againhttps://t.co/XMm8tQC1z1
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) December 30, 2021
Bon apetit! pic.twitter.com/0mYxPJvYAq
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) December 30, 2021
https://twitter.com/ASuburbian/status/1476369875761311751
We don’t get it, either.
You can tell someone really cares about the rest of humanity when they talk about it like a livestock farmer talking about his herd
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) December 30, 2021
Heh.
the people who love this idea haven't started eating bugs yet, why is that
— Ogre Paladin (@OgrePaladin) December 30, 2021
That often does seem to be the case, doesn’t it?
— Mindfields (@EnterMindfields) December 29, 2021
That corgi is all of us.
My rebuttal:
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) December 30, 2021
IT'S A LOSS FOR THE PEOPLE EATING THE MAGGOTS AND FOR THE MAGGOTS BEING EATEN BY THE PEOPLE. EVERYONE LOSES. https://t.co/Wc9mRy98FD
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) December 30, 2021
The hardest of passes from us, Bloomberg Opinion. Sorry not sorry.
I’m not going to live in a pod and I’m not going to eat bugs. https://t.co/S4v4hTTTaG
— Alessandra (@alessabocchi) December 30, 2021
— PirateMonkE (@PirateMonkE13) December 29, 2021
