A recent article by columnist John Vincent in the Metro newspaper suggests that we should avoid climate change by tucking into a diet of insects. It describes the flavours, gives cooking suggestions, the nutritional value of the creatures and details of websites where they can be purchased. Apparently ‘grow-your-own’ bug kits can be shipped from California!
It also mentions an American company ‘Big Cricket Farms’ the main producer of human-grade ‘entomophagical’ products, who raise crickets in a huge warehouse in Ohio. On their website, ‘Big Cricket Farms’ explains how they feel that farming Crickets “offers marvellous advantages over traditional protein sources like beef”, crickets need less feed per pound of usable meat compared to cows; likewise they need less water and produce fewer greenhouse gasses.
But wouldn’t we do more to avoid climate change by moving away from a meat-based diet altogether?
The intensive farming of insects not only raises ethical questions but requires resources that could be used to feed humans directly. According to the ‘Big Cricket Farms’ website, crickets need two pounds of feed to produce only half that amount of usable meat!
Reducing the amount of meat and other animal products we consume such as milk and eggs reduces the demand for cruel intensive factory farming. Plant-based foods provide all of our nutritional needs and we can still enjoy all the things we are used to eating; sausages, burgers, pasta, stir fries etc, don’t need to include animal products to be delicious! Having a meat-free day a week, going vegetarian, ‘vegan before 6:00’, or cutting out animal products from our diets completely is better for animals, better for us and better for the planet.
The farming of gimmick food such as crickets is not.
More info on OneKind eating here.