Insects instead the beef: future where farmers fail to meet increasing demand for meat

Traditional livestock farming won’t be able to catch up with increasing world population’s demand for meat if it maintains the same level of production. A simple increase of the number of cattle stock is not a solution and will result in additional environmental challenges – livestock waste, if not recycled properly, may lead to the extinction of humanity. 

By 2050 the world’s population will amount to 9 billion people. If not to consider Muslims and vegetarians, the consumption of meat per person will increase as follows: 

Thus, it’s very likely that we’ll have to find an additional source of protein which is of vital importance for us. It’s quite possible that insects will become this source. In 2013  FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) even published a leaflet on edible insects.  

The nutrition habits are already changing and they will definitely continue to change. Of course, people won’t stop eating meat, it will just become less accessible.  

Today, over 2 billion people eat insects every dayand not because they don’t have something else to eat, but because insects are far more nourishing than pork and beef. The meat of edible insects contains 65% of protein while the same amount of beef contains only 20-28%. 

For the population of Asian and African countries insects are a traditional part of the diet. As these countries will be major drivers of the world’s population growth, it’s quite predictable that insects will continue to gain popularity as an alternative source of protein. At the same time population of western countries will get an opportunity to review their nutrition habits. Let’s take a closer look what for.            

A farmer needs 200 square meters of arable land to produce 1 kilogram of beef, while only 15 square centimeters of arable land is required to produce the same amount of cricket meat. 

Today 30% of the world’s harvest of crops is used to feed livestock. 

The production of 200 grams of beef requires 3400 liters of water, while only 1 milliliter of water is required to produce the same amount of cricket meat. It enables cricket breeding in the most arid regions of the world.  

We receive two times more calcium from the meat of insects than from milk. Insects’ meat is also high in vitamin B12, iron, magnesium and folic acid.  

The consumption of insects becomes more and more popularity as a new gastronomic trend and it happens not only in Asia. In organic shops of North America you can already buy healthy snacks made of insects’ meat. 

Edible insects are widespread in many countries around the world. Of course, in Finland, Norway or Ukraine you won’t find a lot of edible insects, as the climate of such countries makes their breeding a seasonal activity. At the same time, the half of the world’s population eat insects on regular basis, as in many countries their species are available all year round.