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!