07/06/2017 12:18 AM AEST | Updated 07/06/2017 4:40 AM AEST

Why You Should Let Maggots Feast On Your Leftover Food




This comes at a time when the food waste crisis has hit global proportions. One-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, and when it’s sent to landfills to decompose, it releases methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Using maggots to dispose of uneaten food could reduce the amount of food sent to landfills.



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A farm is southwestern China buys leftovers from restaurants and feeds them to maggots. The insects are then dried and turned into animal feed and their feces are used for organic fertilizer.

Identifying innovative ways to reduce food waste is critical in the U.S., where it’s an even greater issue than in China. According to a 2011 report from the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization, the average American squanders about 250 pounds of food a year.

Serving up insect larvae to livestock is restricted in the U.S., but it’s being used for some specific types of animal feed. 



People who raise animals at home aren’t subject to government regulations, and Civita encourages them to let their livestock dine on such insect “delicacies.”

Turning maggots into compost is a more common practice in the U.S. There’s even a name for it: black soldier fly composting. When the larvae are introduced, food scraps are turned into compost at a more rapid pace, compared to conventional methods, Civita added.

Such processes are also helpful in promoting closed-loop agriculture. That’s when all nutrients and organic matter on a farm are recycled back into the soil they grew in.

Civita, who also works at Sterling College in Kansas, said her students are “excited” about black soldier fly composting and are looking into developing a pilot program on the university’s farm. 

“Enlisting some of our smallest planetary neighbors in the fight against food waste is a promising idea that can support adoption of more agro-ecological practices,” Civita told HuffPost.