Re: entomophagy, I think the problem isn’t just direct consumption, but also the use of insects as animal feed – see e.g. this article. Unlike directly eating insects, this doesn’t evoke a strong disgust reaction.
Thanks for the comment. You’re right. Entomophagy is just one segment of the farmed insect sector. There are huge numbers of insects farmed for animal feed. There are also huge numbers of insects farmed for pollination and huge numbers of insects farmed as biological control agents (e.g., parasitoids that prey on crop pests). Then there’s silk, honey, shellac, carmine and a number of other products derived primarily from farmed insects.
All told, there are dozens of different types of insects farmed commercially. (And I’m just counting insects; if you include all invertebrates, the number is probably in the hundreds.) Right now we’re working on a project to get a better understanding of the number of insects farmed for various purposes and the conditions in which these insects are reared. Appealing to the “yuck factor” may be a way to put the brakes on one fast-growing segment of the farmed insect industry, but there is a lot more basic research that needs to be completed before we will be in a position to recommend concrete interventions.
Thanks Jason – I’m excited to see more research on this!
What do you make of the possibility of flow-through effects on long-term attitudes towards insects / invertebrates? For instance, one could argue that entomophagy is particularly relevant because it involves a lot of people directly harming insects – which might, similar to meat consumption, bias people against giving moral weight to insects. (On the other hand, we already engage in many other everyday practices that harm insects or invertebrates – even just walking around outside will squash some bugs.)
Perhaps it would be interesting to study how the saliency of causing direct harm to insects / invertebrates affects people’s attitude?
That’s a good point. I hadn’t really thought about the issue in those terms. I’ll bring it up with the rest of the team and see what they think. Thanks!
Excellent work!
Re: entomophagy, I think the problem isn’t just direct consumption, but also the use of insects as animal feed – see e.g. this article. Unlike directly eating insects, this doesn’t evoke a strong disgust reaction.
Hi Tobias!
Thanks for the comment. You’re right. Entomophagy is just one segment of the farmed insect sector. There are huge numbers of insects farmed for animal feed. There are also huge numbers of insects farmed for pollination and huge numbers of insects farmed as biological control agents (e.g., parasitoids that prey on crop pests). Then there’s silk, honey, shellac, carmine and a number of other products derived primarily from farmed insects.
All told, there are dozens of different types of insects farmed commercially. (And I’m just counting insects; if you include all invertebrates, the number is probably in the hundreds.) Right now we’re working on a project to get a better understanding of the number of insects farmed for various purposes and the conditions in which these insects are reared. Appealing to the “yuck factor” may be a way to put the brakes on one fast-growing segment of the farmed insect industry, but there is a lot more basic research that needs to be completed before we will be in a position to recommend concrete interventions.
Thanks Jason – I’m excited to see more research on this!
What do you make of the possibility of flow-through effects on long-term attitudes towards insects / invertebrates? For instance, one could argue that entomophagy is particularly relevant because it involves a lot of people directly harming insects – which might, similar to meat consumption, bias people against giving moral weight to insects. (On the other hand, we already engage in many other everyday practices that harm insects or invertebrates – even just walking around outside will squash some bugs.)
Perhaps it would be interesting to study how the saliency of causing direct harm to insects / invertebrates affects people’s attitude?
Hi Tobias!
That’s a good point. I hadn’t really thought about the issue in those terms. I’ll bring it up with the rest of the team and see what they think. Thanks!