To Eat or Not To Eat Bugs, That is the Question

There are approximately ten quintillion individual bugs alive on the planet. (Numbers) Yes, quintillion (that’s eighteen zeros!) These bugs don’t take nearly as much space to farm as cattle, don’t require as many acres of land to feed them with, and are really healthy. So, why not just switch to eating insects? They’re actually good for you, they could keep up with the increasing demand for more food by the growing population, and are better for the environment.

Firstly, they’re packed with proteins, fibers, healthy fats, vitamins, essential minerals, iron, and nutrients. Of course nutrients tend to differ with different species of insects, age, and how they’re prepared, but many types of bugs are still very rich in nutrients. For instance, grasshoppers contain just as many nutrients as beef with less fat, and mealworms can be a great substitute for fish. (Boboltz) Other bugs, such as red ants, yield about 14 grams of protein for every 3.5 ounces. (Gardner) 

Why does this matter? Well, because protein and nutrients are fundamental to life. They improve our weight loss, increase muscle mass, and increase strength. Out muscles, bones, and skin all rely on proteins to grow and repair themselves. Insects are also a great source of iron. (Gardner) Iron and protein combined together forms hemoglobins, which are required to move oxygen to our blood cells. 

Insects aren’t just good for you due to health reasons, but also because they could help feed the entire world. Think of it, you’ll never have to worry about being left hungry again, cause there’s plenty of insects to go around! Since protein is essential to human survival, it’d make sense if we started using all of our land and resources on bug farms to help cater to the growing— and hungry— population. We can get just as much protein out of insects as we could from livestock, and they take less space to grow and farm. So, with the same amount of land we can get double the amount of food we previously could grow. It’s estimated that by 2050, the world’s population sill grow to be around 9.7 billion people, which is 2 billion more than what we’ve already got to deal with.

Already, one out of seven people are hungry. If we go on like this, we won’t be able to feed everyone on planet Earth. (Dicke) It’s already a huge challenge to feed our population now, so this is why bugs are a better food source as it’ll still be able to fulfil our needs and we’ll have plenty of it to go around.

Lastly, farming bugs is better for the environment. The amount of food waste produced on Earth every year has already taken its toll on our environment. Raising livestock creates methane gas, which is a big contributor to global warming and climate change. (Gardner) The effect of methane is twenty-five times more harmful to our environment than carbon dioxide. However, farming insects only produces around 10 to 80 times less methane gas than cattle. (Kolb) 

And since we breathe the same air, this is an issue that should concern everyone.

In conclusion, not only will eating insects have great health benefits but it’s also a goof solution to beating world hunger and saving our Earth. May places on Earth already do eat bugs, and it’s even considered a delicacy in many places. By simply changing our everyday diets to include insects, we could slowly take a step to making the world a better place for all of us. 

Boboltz, Sara. “Here’s Why You Should Start Eating (More) Bugs.” Huffpost, Huffpost, 7 Dec. 2017, huffpost.com. 5 Mar. 2020

Dicke, Marcel. “Why not eat insects?” TED, TEDTalk, 1 Dec. 2010, youtube.com. 5 Mar. 2020

Gardner, Amy. “What Are The Most Important Pros and Cons Of Eating Insects?” Crickster, 16 Mar. 2019, eatcrickster.com. 5 Mar. 2020

Kolb, Benjamin. “Eating insects ‘could cut greenhouse gas emmissions’” SciDevNet, 17 Jan. 2010, scidev.net. 5 Mar. 2020.

“Number of Insects (Species and Individuals).” Smithsonian Institution, The Smithsonian, si.edu/spotlight. 5 Mar. 2020