Gezondheid Geschreven op 18-1-2011 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in EEN-Armoede

As global food prices continue to rise, scientists are looking for ways to feed the world in the future. One answer may be insects — if people can stomach it.

Entomophagy, the human consumption of insects, has become an important research field within the chair group. We explore the potential of the sustainable production of high quality edible insects and insect-derived products, in particular proteins, from side streams (organic waste).

This research is carried out in the framework of a 4-year research programme “Sustainable production of Insect Proteins for human consumption” (SUPRO2), funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality.

This one million euro programme, coordinated by Arnold van Huis, runs from 2010 to 2013 and is implemented in collaboration with the chair group ‘Product Design and Quality, and Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research. We also investigate the nutritive and environmental aspects of insects as human food, while in the tropics (Laos) the sustainable harvesting of insects, in particular weaver ants, is studied and narrowly collaborate with FAO in different aspects of entomophagy such as the formulation of a global policy.

See also: TEDGlobal 2010: Why not eat insects? by Marcel Dicke