Come get your protein here!!!

An estimated 2 billion people worldwide eat insects as part of their diet. Are these people crazy or do they have a point?

From promoting sustainability to wanting to put on muscle, insects may be an answer to a lot of our problems. 

Taking a look at some of the stats suggests that those 2 billion people may have a point, although they could still be a little crazy.

For example, the composition of unsaturated omega-3 and six fatty acids in mealworms is comparable with that in fish (and higher than in cattle and pigs), and the protein, vitamin and mineral content of mealworms is similar to that in fish and meat.

The below table from the FAO shows how favourably insects rate on in protein content against other animals:

Besides this, many insects are rich in micronutrients such as copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, selenium and zinc, as well as riboflavin, pantothenic acid, biotin and, in some cases, folic acid.

So even a quick overview can suggest that insects are of great nutritional value - certainly not deficient compared to their more common counterparts.

The clincher for me is that for the same amount of feed and far less water, space and energy, you could get four times as much cricket as you could beef. And if you want pure protein for building muscle, why buy whey when you can get a more well rounded, natural source?

While I haven't started rearing any crickets, my mealworms have started metamorphosing, which is fascinating. My long, thin mealworms have started turning into what looks like mini aliens from the film Independence Day:

  The pupating mealworms will turn into beetles before mating and laying eggs to hatch as more mealworms

I will keep you updated on their progress as I should start seeing beetles soon. And fear not - the protein rich meal-worms are eaten before pupation.

In the meantime check out this great video from the BBC on insects as part of our future food system.

What do you need to rear mealworms?

The idea of this blog is to share my experiences of rearing insects and help inspire people to look at our food in a different way in order to tackle the worldwide issue of food security.

There will be plenty of news, research, and recipes to come, but firstly: how do you rear mealworms?

In order to keep mealworms you need (a version of) the following:

- Three containers
- Oats
- Moisture-carrying food e.g. Carrot
- Newspaper/card and egg cartons

Three containers are needed because there are three phases in the darkling beetle life-cycle and each phase will require a new container. Each container should contain some oats.

The mealworms live in and eat the oats, while the veg/fruit provides some moisture. The container in which the mealworms will grow needs to be supplemented with paper/card as the mealworms like to stay under cover.
The mealworms will, after a while, transform into a pupating state. The pupae need to be separated from the mealworms in case they are fed upon by the mealworms. They will not feed or move during this phase. There should be oats and a small amount of other food for when the pupae morph into beetles.

The beetles will emerge from the pupae and also then need to be separated in order to prevent them feeding on the pupae. The final container should contain oats and other food and egg cartons. Female beetles will lay eggs in the oats and in the carton and eventually tiny mealworms will hatch from these.

There are plenty of places online from which you can order live insects as they are used widely as pet food and fish bait. These can provide the base for your stock.

When a rustling box labelled CAUTION: LIVE INSECTS arrived at my workplace the other day I had a lot of comments, but the mealworms are in their new home and the games can begin...

Why eat insects? One man and his worms

My name is Sean McGough and I’m about to start rearing insects. Firstly mealworms and then crickets. I’m relatively normal, studied History, work at a charity called TreeAid after working as a Project Manager for an engineering consultancy and I have no prior experience in rearing insects.

Why? I have been asked why more times than I can count – normally accompanied by a shrivelled face of disgust. “For food” I will respond. And then go on to explain that insects could be the future for our high-protein driven food chain, which currently helps cause untold problems.

While travelling in 2012 and 2013 I saw the destruction caused by worldwide demand for certain products. In Borneo, the rainforest has dwindled to small pockets and corridors in which animals like orangutans struggle to survive because of the demand for palm oil. In Bolivia, the dry forests of the Chaco have been cut and burned to create space for soy production, which is used to feed UK cattle, poultry and pigs. And in Brazil cattle ranchers have cleared huge swathes of forest to rear our meat. These backdrops acted as a constant reminder that the decisions we make at home can leave a far-reaching environmental footprint.

A report from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), 'Edible insects

Future prospects for food and feed security', published in 2013, followed on from quite a lot of press about the potential of using insects as a foodstuff. The information coming from the UN and the experience of eating insects (crickets, silkworms and ants) while abroad led me to believe that this really could be the future of food. Insects offer a more sustainable approach than other sources due to their ability to produce more protein while taking up less, space, water, food and energy. They can also be really tasty.

Crickets fried in salt and chilli. Hanoi, Vietnam

I am taking this seriously and ordered some fresh, live mealworms from an online shop.

In future this could be a huge business - hopefully one that helps reduce our consumption of destructive sources of protein.

And I will share as much as I can on here for anyone that takes a passing interest or decides that they want to rear any insects - be it for fun, pet food, to feed the birds or to learn more about the future of food!