‘Yuck factor’: eating insects rather than meat to help the planet is failing, study finds | Insects

The latest efforts to encourage people to eat insects are condemned to fail because of the common disgust of the idea, which will help people through environmentally destructive meat consumption habit.

In recent years, farming and eating insects have been launched as a greener alternative to eating traditional meat, which is responsible for more than half of global water pollution, has a leading driving force of forests and prevents the world’s disk climate, which can cause more than one third of the new research.

Nevertheless, it is unlikely that insects such as criches, grasshoppers and ants will realize much lighter planetary cost of reproduction and eating, especially in western countries, people have been repulsed in the idea of ​​eating them.

While the public class in the United States and Europe found that 91% of the participants will be willing to try plant -based “alternative meats ,, only 20% of them will consider eating insects.

In addition to the cultural “Yuck” factor, most companies – exception of a few protein bar initiatives – there are economic obstacles that decide to grow species like black soldiers for animals rather than human.

“Considering these difficulties, it is difficult to see how insect -based foods can replace traditional meat options, N Nature Journal NPJ says.

Many people expressed their desire to eat sustainable foods, while relatively few vegetarianism and veganism in Western countries. In the meantime, global meat consumption is expected to increase in the coming decades due to increasing demand from a new rich cohort in countries such as China, as it brings additional stresses to land, waterways and climate.

“We have limited resources and we need to devote them to the most promising alternatives,” he said. Insect Institute. “It turns out that farm insects constantly score the lowest level of meat substitutes and that the real market for them is incredibly small even in places with insect eating traditions.”

Crummett made some efforts to put insects on substances such as snack sticks and bread, and said that they were not converted into products that would really dislocate meat consumption.

“The whole conversation about eating insects did not make a big difference. People still react strongly to insects and this has no cultural history,” he said. “It is difficult to change the long -standing kitchen traditions and deep -seated disgust reactions from top to bottom. If it were easy, more human plant -based foods will eat.”

Very few government has made important moves to prevent the consumption of meat feared from political reactions, despite its enormous influence on the environment. However, Denmark has provided a possible model of how to do it, and in 2023, it has opened a plan to reduce meat and support the supply of plant -based foods.

“Plant -based foods will come,” Denmark’s Food, Agriculture and Fishing Minister Jensen said. “If we want to reduce climate footprint in the agricultural sector, we all have to eat more plant -based food.”

Crummett said the Danish plan is a good starting point to create an alternative to hoping that people will pass to insects.

“You have to meet people where they are,” he said. “You need to make things easy and delicious, not just moral and hector people. When there are better alternative products based on taste, price and comfort, we will get some traction in reducing the animal husbandry effect.”