Can Eating Bugs ‘Reduce Pollution’ and ‘Fight Hunger’? The U.N. Touts Edible Insects

Fried mealworms (Photo:

ROME (TheBlaze/AP) — The U.N. has new weapons to fight hunger, boost nutrition and reduce pollution, and they might be crawling or flying near you right now: edible insects, a practice known as entomophagy.



Screenshot of the report cover. (Image:





“Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly,” the agency said, adding they leave a “low environmental footprint.” Here’s more from the report regarding the more favorable environmental impact of edible insects, compared to traditional livestock:

  • Insect rearing is not necessarily a land-based activity and does not require land clearing to expand production. Feed is the major requirement for land.


Boiled silkworm larvae (Photo:

But a condensed fact sheet about insect eating states that it is a “common misconception” that entomophagy should only be reserved for times of extreme hunger.

“…in most instances where they are a staple in local diets,” the fact sheet states, “insects are consumed because of their taste, and not because there are no other food sources available.”

Mopane caterpillars in southern Africa and weaver ant eggs in Southeast Asia, for example, are considered delicacies and sell for high prices.




And some people who might not entertain the thought of consuming insects might already be eating them. Many insects are ingested inadvertently. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a handbook of acceptable “defect levels” allowed in foods, which for some foods includes whole or parts of insects.


This story has been updated to correct a typo in the headline.