Marcel Dicke: 'We should eat insects, not mammals'

  • 15 Jul 2010

At TEDGlobal 2010, Marcel Dicke has outlined a future where humanity's consumption of mammals is replaced with consumption of insects.

The world is having difficulty feeding itself. More than a sixth of the world's population are considered malnourished, and with the global population expected to rise to around nine billion by 2050, agricultural production will need to increase by 70 percent to keep everyone fed.

Meat consumption in developed countries is about 80kg per person, per year. In the USA it's 120kg. By contrast, it's 25kg in developing countries, and China's consumption has risen in the past few years from 30 to 50kg. Pretty soon, there just won't be enough to go round, so humanity needs an alternative.

Marcel Dicke is an agricultural entomologist who believes that the answer is simple: bugs. 80 percent of the creatures on Earth are insects, and there are 200 kilos of insect biomass per person on the planet. Speaking at TEDGlobal 2010, Dicke outlined a future where humanity's consumption of mammals is replaced with Entomophagy -- the consumption of insects.

He gave several reasons why this would be a good idea. Firstly, growing insects for food is extremely efficient, compared to more traditional meat sources. 10 kilograms of feed will generate just 1kg of beef, 3kg of pork, and 5kg of chicken. It generates 9kg of locusts.

As well as efficiency, that also means less waste to deal with -- manure isn't generated in anywhere near as great a quantity, and the waste that does result from the process is lower in ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions than equivalent manure from mammals.

Then could also health benefits, Dicke suggests. Insects are rich in all the proteins, fats, and vitamins that are crucial to our diet. One hundred grams of giant silkworm moth larvae provide 100 percent of the daily requirements for copper, zinc, iron, thiamin, and riboflavin. Crickets are high in calcium, and termites are rich in iron. With six million species to choose from, picking a diet is easy.

By the way, you already eat insects
If you're squirming in discomfort at that last paragraph, you probably won't want to read this next one either: Humans in the western world already eat an average of 500g of insects per year. The sources are predominantly processed food -- soups, noodles, etc.

Dicke offered up tomato soup as an example. Tomatoes that look good and fresh are sold whole, but those with insects in are pulped and made into soup. So long as the minimum standards for safety are met, it's entirely fine.

Plus we might not have any choice. 70 percent of the world's agricultural land is already used for livestock, and the potential for growth of the total is slim, and involved cutting down rainforests. Insects can be farmed in considerably smaller spaces.

Feeling queasy? Dicke reminded the audience that other invertebrates such as crabs, oysters and shrimps are essentially just underwater insects. "A locust is a shrimp of the land," he said. Also, insects are eaten widely in developing countries -- more than 1,000 different species are chowed down on around the world.

And for lunch at TED today? Florentines topped with candied bugs. I had one. It was delicious.

More from TEDGlobal 2010:


London's sustainable restaurants for 'green chefs'
The evolutionary origins of irrationality explored

TEDGlobal 2010: Day two highlights

Shell's Nick Allen on lessening fossil fuel dependence


The world of identity and facial reconstruction

Eyes-on: Peter Molyneux's 'Milo and Kate' project
Highlights from day one