Chickens like to eat bugs, and consumers are happy to eat bug-fed chickens, says a Dutch proponent of using insects as feed.
Marian Peters of New Generation Nutrition said European consumers don’t seem to be squeamish about eating meat from insect-fed animals as long as they eat the bugs in the wild.
“Consumers liked it and 95 percent of them stated that when it’s a natural diet, ‘please feed it to them,’ ” Peters told the Western Nutrition Conference Sept. 30.
He said consumers also seem OK with the idea of feeding insects to fish.
Read Also
Agri-business and farms front and centre for Alberta’s Open Farm Days
Open Farm Days continues to enjoy success in its 14th year running, as Alberta farms and agri-businesses were showcased to increase awareness on how food gets to the dinner plate.
The idea might sound a bit wacky in a North American context, but some European companies, farmers and animal nutritionists have been pushing hard to get farm-raised insects approved for a wide range of feeding applications.
The European Union is considering their proposals.
The European Commission has found that using bugs as food or feed would have many benefits with few negatives, other than consumer squeamishness.
Peters said insects’ excellent feed conversion ratios make them an attractive livestock feed source, which could replace imported soybean meal or fishmeal.
Soybean meal is brought in from overseas, which has environmental consequences, and much fishmeal comes from environmentally unsustainable practices and de-pleting sources.
Bugs can be raised, killed and processed in enclosed farm structures, but defining what a bug ranch is and where it should be located are difficult questions.
“Is it on an industrial lot, or is it agricultural production?”
There are many ways to feed bugs to chickens and fish and getting them to eat it shouldn’t be difficult.
“They eat it already,” said Peters.
“They love it, actually.”
Huge issues remain before a substantial “short-cycled mini-livestock” industry can arise, such as figuring out what an insect supply chain should look like.
Turning insects into human food is a bigger challenge because the yuck factor works against it.
However, Peters said consumer squeamishness shouldn’t stop bugs from becoming feed.
“As long as it’s a natural diet (for the livestock), as we’ve found out in recent research, they do accept insects,” said Peters.
ed.white@producer.com
