State of the Art Report Insects as Food and Feed

FAO has considered insects as food since 2003 [1] and is promoting consumption of insects (entomophagy) in the Western world because of the possibilities for sustainable production it offers. Insects as food are considered to leave smaller ecological footprints than conventional livestock (beef, pigs, and poultry) regarding feed, land and water needs, as well as greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions [2-7]. As an example regarding water, taken from a recent TV documentary, if a family of four people got their protein need from insects one day a week instead of from conventional livestock, over a year they would save the planet about a million Liters of water [8]. This is in agreement with figures above.