Eating insects is largely well known in countries in Asia and is not exactly mainstream. Some risk-taking European and American restaurants have trialled that the delicacy, but many people would not eye up a giant centipede and find it appetising.
“The ecological footprint of an insect is much smaller when compared with animal-based food sources,” says researcher Daylan Tzompa-Sosa in Ghent University. She and her colleagues came up with the idea of examining the insects as components in sweets and cakes, such as waffles.
Insect-based fat is a sustainable and healthy alternative to butter, according to the research team at Ghent University in Belgium.
A smell of insect fat was off-putting when cooking while the results proved successful in Ghent University canteen. The staff plan to address the matter.
Nutritionists agree that insects are high in fiber, vitamins, protein and minerals. However, before you rush off to open your insect farm, it’s important to bear in mind this, as of yet, we don’t know enough about the long term consequences of farming pests in large quantities. From which species are suitable to waste management A lot of questions remain unanswered. Additional research is required, as a group of Swiss scientists emphasized last year.
Nevertheless, gastronomy that is bug-based might be the future. United Nations food experts have been compelling pests as a source of nutrition for many years, claiming that their consumption could decrease greenhouse gas emissions due to less livestock pollution. A 2013 report from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation clarifies edible insects as a”good source of protein which may help sustain lifestyle” pointing to caterpillars, already a popular food source in Central Africa. According to the report, the world’s population will reach 9 billion people by 2050, meaning more food sources will be necessary.