The United Nations has urged people all over the world to increase their consumption of insects.
Although many westerners would find the idea of eating a cockroach salad or a grasshopper gratin somewhat hard to stomach – something the UN acknowledges – a new report by the organisation’s Food and Agriculture division has argued that humans need to eat more insects to increase sustainability.
Insects are currently eaten in a number of African and Asian countries, with many types of bug considered delicacies in certain cases.
The UN report argued that insects have high levels of protein and are much more sustainable than cattle in terms of both its environmental impact and cost.
So far, the Food and Agriculture agency has said that 1,900 types of insect have been identified as edible, with beetles (468 species), ants, bees and wasps (351), crickets, locusts and cockroaches (267), and butterflies, moths and silkworms (253) all on the menu.
The agency said: “The prospect of farms processing insects for feed might soon become a global reality due to a growing demand for sustainable feed sources.”