While convincing people in Western nations to eat wriggly worms instead of juicy steaks would be an enormous challenge, using insect protein to feed animals instead of soy and fish may not be that hard.

Protix opened one of the world’s largest insect farms in June in the Netherlands, while other producers, including Enviroflight, Ynsect and AgriProtein, are building large facilities to turn billions of insects into animal protein every month. Large farming companies like Cargill and Wilbur-Ellis are also investing in this sector.

By breeding insects in vertical farms, these companies can produce large amounts of feed in less space than traditional farms, their proponents say.

“Having these vertical indoor farms is a way to control all parameters and increase overall efficiency. It’s much easier to monitor and control risks in an indoor farm than an outdoor farm,” said Antoine Hubert , the chief executive and co-founder of Ynsect, which breeds mealworm in an automated plant in eastern France.

And these insects are essentially recyclers that can turn huge amounts of organic waste into protein.

“I’ve been to facilities that can digest a hundred tons a day of waste with these insects. That’s a hundred tons of waste that won’t go into a landfill. A hundred tons of waste that won’t produce greenhouse gases. A hundred tons of waste that won’t potentially pollute the soils with pathogens,” said Jeffery Tomberlin , an entomologist at Texas A&M University who has been studying the black soldier fly for over two decades.

The beauty of the industry, Mr. Tomberlin said, is that black soldier fly larvae can also be reared in small farms, allowing agricultural areas to turn their organic waste into a valuable product.