Would eating insects save us from climate change?

 

Would you replace your beef burger with a patty of bugs? 

The world's population will reach 9.8 billion. As a result, global demand for food and feed is expected to increase by 70 percent, putting additional pressure on already overexploited agricultural resources.

Global demand for meat in particular will continue to increase as dietary habits in developing countries change, due to rapid urbanization and economic growth.

The oceans are already over-exploited and climate change will have a profound impact on food production. Meanwhile, nearly one billion people worldwide suffer from chronic food deprivation.

Among the possible solutions, one is quietly making its way into the public's attention: eating insects.

The billions of animals raised each year for food are putting increasing pressure on land and water resources and contributing to climate change and other negative environmental impacts:

Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars?

Surprise!

According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.

The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth’s increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water pollution, euthropication and the degeneration of coral reefs. The major polluting agents are animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops. Widespread overgrazing disturbs water cycles

Insect production is more environmentally friendly than conventional livestock production. Insects release much lower amounts of greenhouse gases and ammonia into the atmosphere per kilogram of meat than cattle or pigs.