BCFN Young Earth Solutions YES!
Insect Farm Abstract: The world is facing increasing difficulties with the environmental impact of food production, with feeding its population on one hand, and fighting obesity and related diseases on the other. In this project I will be focusing on the harmful effects of livestock processing in the United States and I would like to offer a solution, that is already employed in 80% of the world's countries; the idea of entomophagy consumption of insects. Drawbacks of livestock consumption include a very high percentage of greenhouse gas emissions, extensive usage of our water resources, vast demand for land and feed, and detriments to our well-being. While engaging in entomophagy, would not solve the problems entirely, its benefits are significant. While engaging in production of insect, we could significantly reduce emissions of CO2 and ammonia, reduce the amount of waste coming from manure, decrease water and heat consumption, cut back on the land required for breeding and growing feed, increase availability of food for all and health benefits are also significant. In the project I would like to propose a balanced diet between livestock consumption and entomophagy, for a sustainable and healthy environment.
Author
Sofija Sztepanov
Insect farm The world is facing increasing difficulties with the environmental impact of food production, with feeding its population on one hand, and fighting obesity and related diseases on the other. In this project I will be focusing on the harmful effects of livestock processing in the United States and I would like to offer a solution, that is already employed in 80% of the world's countries; the idea of entomophagy – consumption of insects. First, let us consider the drawbacks of livestock: • The livestock sector is responsible for 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions – a higher percentage than transport. • The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the Earth’s increasingly scarce water resources. Although livestock directly uses only 1.3 of the 87 percent of all the fresh water consumed each year by the agricultural sector in the U.S., when we consider the water used for growing feed, the percentage rises drastically. • Livestock now use 30 per cent of the earth’s entire land surface. In addition 33 per cent of the global arable land is used to produce feed. Forests are cleared to create new pastures, therefore livestock is a major driver of deforestation. • More than half the U.S. grain is being fed to livestock rather than being consumed directly by humans. • More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. Processed meat, especially beef and pork are contributing to these statistics, given that they are high in artery-dogging, saturated fats, and they are high source of cholesterol too. These are all also sources to a number of illnesses, such as heart disease. Surely, insects could not remedy the problems entirely; however their benefits would be significant: • Insects produce much smaller quantities of greenhouse gases per kilogram of meat than conventional livestock. For example, a pig produces between ten and a hundred times more greenhouse gases per kilogram compared with mealworms. Furthermore, a pig produces between eight and twelve times as much ammonia per kilogram of growth compared to crickets, and up to fifty times more than locusts. • 70% of the world's agricultural land is already used for livestock and the potential growth is slim and involves cutting down rain-forests. Insects can be farmed in considerably smaller places. • Less water usage • Less waste to deal with. Manure, which is one of the main causes of the high emissions of greenhouse gases, isn't generated in anywhere near as great a quantity, and the waste that does result from the process is lower in ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions than equivalent manure from mammals. • Breeding insects is more efficient. 10kg of feed will generate 1kg of beef, 3kg of pork, 5kg of chicken and 9kg of locusts. This means that less land would be used for growing feed, and more could go to human consumption. • Insects reproduce much faster, speeding up the process of production. • Insects, unlike mammals are endothermic, therefore less heat would be used, which would majorly reduce energy consumption. • There are also health benefits. Insects are high in protein, vitamins, low in fat and cholesterol. For instance, 100g of grasshoppers contain 20.6 g of protein and 6.1g of fat and provides calcium and iron. 100g of ground beef consists of 26g of protein along with a whopping 18g of fat. Most lipids contained in insects are long-chain unsaturated fats, also called “healthy fats”, as opposed to saturated fats contained in livestock. So if there are so many benefits, why did we not engage in massive production yet?
There could be several reasons: • First is the cultural barrier. Our culture has taught us since an early age that insects are inferior, dirty, disgusting creatures. • Secondly, one of the hardest things as a human is to consider your food in its original form. A steak looks nothing like a cow and a chicken breast looks nothing like a chicken. But a locust is always going to look like a locust, unless you make a puree out of it. • Thirdly people from the Western world have grown a custom to a certain kind of taste, than those in the rest of the world, and it would be hard to adjust to a different diet. So what could be done to overcome these barriers? • The solution to the first problem would be education. If we were taught since childhood how useful insects are, how much they contribute to our well-being, and also that they are an acceptable form of nutrition, our approach would change. For example, people are comfortable eating aquatic bugs such as shrimps, crabs and mollusks, simply because we were brought up to see it natural. A locust is only a shrimp of the land. • Secondly, once we overcome the cultural barrier that we have towards insects it will not be difficult to consider them in their original forms. Once again, it is enough to think about aquatic insects. • The solution to the third problem, would involve food companies employing cooks who could turn the little creatures into delicious and appealing products. Once this is done, it is hard to imagine that anyone would have an issue with snacking on them. In the end, I would like to emphasize that my idea is not to stop livestock processing entirely; I am imagining a more balanced diet which would replace some of our meat consumption from livestock with those of insects. The benefits are significant and with the increasing population we may not even have a choice. So why don't we give it a shot?