From cricket paté to worm salad, insects are the planet-saving diet of the future
The health trend is a peculiar thing. Societies have long been captivated by the latest in-vogue recipe or ingredient, often for calorie-reducing and appearance reasons.
From the Victorian fad of adding arsenic to diet regimes, to 1920s tobacco companies promoting cigarettes as appetite-suppressants, trends designed to help the public lose weight have long been popular – but instead of helping, they have led to unhealthy behaviours.
But though weight-loss techniques still abound, in the modern era, many trends now reflect the rise of the ethical consumer.
Read more: Tesco scraps best before dates on fruit and veg lines
Rather than focusing on body image, they are instead examples of shifting societal attitudes, such as a focus on sustainability. Trends such as veganism and eating local produce are on the rise thanks to our increased scrutiny on how our diets might impact the world around us.
All this makes the latest crunchy food trend all the more inevitable. I’m of course talking about the consumption of insects (technically known as “entomophagy”).
While to many westerners this might conjure up alarming images of starving celebrities choking down handfuls of maggots on television, the insects-as-food world is in reality much more palatable.
As popularised by the likes of Nicole Kidman, Mark Cuban, and James Corden, the consumption of critters is increasingly being refined for western tastes. From cricket mushroom patés to wax worm salad toppers, chefs around the world are using bugs as fundamental ingredients for a wealth of delicious and inventive meals.
What has long been a staple part of diets in parts of Asia and Africa is now metamorphosing into a western food trend. With two billion people globally already eating insects in some form, bugs are now landing on plates in new countries such as the UK and US.
Research from Global Market Insights predicts that by 2024 the North American edible insects market will exceed $80m, a 43 per cent increase from today.
The nutritional benefits are well-documented. Bugs are high in Vitamins B and K, amino acids, minerals, protein, healthy fats, and fibre, and are now linked with improving gut bacteria health – which is increasingly recognised as a major influence on physical and mental wellbeing.
It’s the environmental advantages, however, that we believe to be the driving force behind entomophagy spreading its wings globally.
It’s estimated that traditional (i.e. mammal) livestock farming accounts for 14-18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Insect farming produces one hundredth of the emissions of its beef cattle or pig equivalent, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. When compared, these two data-points clearly explain the growing appetite for bugs.
On a planet where population counts are rising spectacularly, predicted to hit 10bn by 2050, and the natural world is displacing people at an increasing rate, a sustainable solution to food shortages is high on many people’s agendas. Insect eating may seem counterintuitive at first, but the sustainability and business cases for it are very strong.
So whether you’re looking to eat more healthily or do your bit for the planet, it might be time to give the bugs some love.
Read more: Carrefour jumps on blockchain bandwagon to track food supplies