Entomophagy

Humans suffer from overpopulation. Trends show, it is here to stay. The world population is estimated to be somewhere around 9 billion by 2050. Although there is a significant portion of people that are vegan, the other lot of us depend on mostly meat to satisfy our protein needs. With much of the world dying of starvation now, and the low efficiency of meat production (a lot of resources are wasted while making meat, water, fodder, land, and everything).

Some experts point to Entomophagy as the solution. Eating insects to satisfy our dietary requirements. It will serve to satisfy all our resource needs, providing protein much more efficiently compared to traditional meat. If you want a compelling case for the same, read here. But can it replace everything we eat? The question for today:

Can We Survive by Just Eating Insects?

I couldn’t find a proper scientific answer for the same. Not to worry, I have enough facts to make an educated guess. Most of the articles on the topic deal with the pros and cons of adding insects to our diets. Given that insects are rich in proteins and also other nutrients, they can easily serve as a viable replacement for meat (if we can deal with the “yuck” factor).

As with every other kind of meat though, there will be some consequences of just living on a diet of insegts. Without careful selection and breeding/foraging of insects, it is hard to guarantee that we can get our vital doses of some vitamins. The most common insect that is eaten is beetles (and mealworms) and they are really rich in fats and proteins. There maybe issues in acquiring the required amounts of starch and carbohydrates though from these insects.

According to what I have read, I think it is safe to say that we can not live on a diet of just insects. They may, however, serve as a replacement for the meat industry of today. Here are a few more resources to read about the same:

• Can we survive by just eating insects?
• How long can we survive on insects
• We all will be eating insects in 50 year
• Can you eat bugs to survive

Here is a bonus article of a vegan who experimented with eating insects for a week. Let’s all try it and write about it on our blogs !