Insects Will Be Part of UK Diet
Western diners should get used to the idea of eating insects
because by 2020 it is "inevitable"
they will form an important part of our diet,
according to the entomologist
who heads up the world's first university centre
focusing on insects as a food source.
He argues that consumers
who have traditionally turned their noses up at six-legged food
may have to change their minds
as conventional meat becomes more expensive and scarce.
Prof Marcel Dicke of Wageningen University said:
"The most important thing is getting people prepared,
getting used to the idea.
Because from 2020 onwards,
there won't be much of a choice for us."
He wants to persuade people to ditch prejudices about insects,
and to persuade manufacturers and suppliers
to come up with products that can be sold
in "a reassuring and attractive manner".
For centuries insects have been part of the daily diet of humans
throughout the world,
from the ants and larvae eaten as part of their subsistence diet
by the tribes of Africa and Australia
to the popular crispy-fried locusts and beetles
enjoyed in Thailand.
Insects as food are increasingly being promoted
as an alternative which are more healthy,
nutritious and sustainable
than mainstream staples such as chicken, beef and fish.
As well as being low in cholesterol and high in protein,
insects produce less waste, Dicke points out,
as we typically throw away three-quarters of a chicken,
but can eat the same percentage of a locust.
Insects also win on the "conversion factor" or ration of feed
ingested by the animal to the meat produced by it-
known as ECI.
Beef cattle has an ECI rate of 10
while the cockroach triumphs with 44.
The carbon emissions associated with growing insects
is also far lower than those linked to conventional livestock.