This insect can save our food chain. Here’s how

A first look at the black soldier fly larvae might yield a negative reaction. After all, we’re used to seeing insects as something to avoid — and we want them as far away from our food as possible.

But we must not discard their role in our food chain. A role they’ve had for thousands of years — one we seem to have forgotten.

Insects can restore a circular food chain

Our planet is a complex system that manages to escape waste by upcycling everything.

But the system humans built is much more linear. We produce a lot of food, but we struggle to capture the value of it. Even in Britain, a seemingly wealthy nation, over 2 million people use food banks. Globally, almost one in ten people don’t have enough food to eat.

We also waste 1/3 of all food produced. That waste usually lands in landfill where it produces large amounts of methane.

The role of many insect species in maintaining a circular system hasn’t changed. They are nature’s most powerful upcyclers — our waste is their food.

The black soldier fly is especially unique, capable of growing 5,000 times its initial body mass in a few weeks.

Its special abilities don't just unlock the power of waste by letting us make it into food again. They also ensures that we avoid the emissions it would’ve produced in landfill.

Insects can help us reach carbon neutrality

In our work with Morrisons, insects manage the supermarket’s fruit and vegetable waste. We then feed them to free-range hens. This way the farm can reach Net Zero and become a supplier of carbon-neutral eggs.

Insects can replace land-hungry feeds

Globally, 33% of available croplands are used to grow animal feed, such as wheat or soy. If we want to minimise emissions coming from livestock, we must find better feeds.

Soy is one of the most popular feeds due to its high protein content and low price. It is also the second largest contributor to deforestation (after cattle grazing).

According to Mighty Earth, one soya company cleared more than 1,180 hectares of vegetation in just one month.

This is an incredible loss when we consider how rich and biodiverse regions like the Cerrado are. They are one of our planet’s most valuable carbon sinks that we cannot afford to destroy.

Insects provide an alternative to those conventional grains and legumes. Grown inside a vertical farming system, they are much more resource-efficient. One square metre of insects can produce as much protein annually as 1,500m2 of soy.

Insects can tackle rising feed prices

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, poultry feed has gone up in price by nearly 50%.

As more supply chain disruptions unveil, it’s only reasonable that farmers want to achieve long-term resilience. Using locally grown feed over imported grains might just be the solution they need.

We can grow them locally

Thanks to our global food chain, Brits can enjoy almonds from California and avocados from Mexico. We’ve built a complex system that works quite robustly — until it doesn’t.

It only takes one container ship to get stuck in the Suez Canal for a couple of days to paralyse the world’s supply chains for months. Or a conflict like the one between Russia and Ukraine to raise grain prices globally.

That’s not to mention the impact of food miles, estimated to be three times more powerful in their contribution to climate change than originally thought.

By growing our food locally, we minimise emissions and disruptions. We increase our resilience in times of turmoil and benefit local communities.

We designed the Better Origin X1 — a containerised insect farm — to fit into a local food chain, converting food waste into carbon neutral protein.

In line with the British government’s focus on food security, we hope to see the insect industry transform many areas of farming, including poultry, aquaculture, and pet food.

Insects can be the Protein 2.0 we need

We’re obsessed with protein, aren’t we?

Meat eaters swear by steaks as its best source, and vegans are tired of proving that they can get enough of it from elsewhere. Protein is an important building block of our bodies. But to avoid an ecological collapse and increase food security, we need Protein 2.0.

Global livestock production contributes an estimated 18% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. It’s no surprise that we’re looking for alternatives, from mushrooms and algae to insect protein.

Few animal-grade proteins can claim to be carbon neutral — but insects are one of them. The emissions from their production are negligible compared to red meat — especially if we feed them food waste.

With their high animal-grade protein content and low environmental impact, insects are the Protein 2.0 we need. They have the potential to transform not just just the farm animal feed market, but also pet food and even human food.