could insects replace red meat?

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
Who are "we"? I'm just saying it makes sense, economically, to farm insects rather than mammals for meat, and that I expect insect consumption to increase significantly in the future.

All of the applications of milk have non-milk replacements, although of course not necessarily equally tasty (depending on one's preferences).

I don't think some sauces can use subs but the point is you want to go from inefficient mammal harvesting to more efficient insect harvesting. My guess is they would be entirely safe to eat, since they have been eaten from time immemorial and the human race still seems to be here more or less in one piece🙂

Some of these genius chef's could probably come up with purees that would taste as good as any from any other source and such.

Originally posted by DeepThought
Can you give a reference for that claim?

The Wikipedia page claims that it requires four times less feed than beef cattle, as the insects gain body heat from the environment. They then talk about the amount of fossil fuels needed to produce beef, but do not talk about fossil fuel use in insect farming. This is fine in hot countries, but could be a p ...[text shortened]... become vegetarians and those that feel the need for meat can supplement with a spot of hunting.

Have you seen the OP link?

http://phys.org/news/2014-05-today-insects-tomorrow-grub-.html

The Wikipedia page claims that it requires four times less feed than beef cattle,

and that is probably a conservative estimate.

They then talk about the amount of fossil fuels needed to produce beef, but do not talk about fossil fuel use in insect farming. This is fine in hot countries, but could be a problem in Northern Europe, where the insects will all die in winter due to not being heated unless one uses fossil fuels to keep them warm.

If that is an economical issue, a simple solution is to only grow them in the warm seasons and store them (frozen or dried or even fresh if they are in a cold-hibernation stage! ) for the cold season. But I doubt it would be an economical issue since, if necessary, you could always farm them inside a super-heat-insolated building that requires only tiny amounts of heat to keep it warm. Also note that some insects can tolerate and grow at body temperatures hovering not much above freezing point. In other words, even if heating is a problem, there are a few perfectly adequate workarounds that!

Warm water prawns I won't as it is one of the most ecologically damaging forms of farming that exists. I wonder if something similar will happen with insects.

Unlikely although that would depend on the insect species farmed. Insects could be farmed inside buildings thus not compete for wild habitat with wild species. Many can be fed on such things as grass and crop plant waste but would give a far greater meat-to-feed ratio than that from warm blooded grazing animals so, compared with red meat farming, their environmental impact should be generally much less.

Vegetables are known to be safe. So frankly if meat production is all that much of a problem we may as well just become vegetarians and those that feel the need for meat can supplement with a spot of hunting.

I think you could be right because I have considered similar thoughts. Just the same though, doesn't do any harm to explore other options. And, and I don't know if you have already thought of this but, why couldn't the “ with a spot of hunting” you mentioned above include hunting edible insects especially those that are crop pests thus killing two birds with one stone!?

Originally posted by sonhouse
I don't think some sauces can use subs but the point is you want to go from inefficient mammal harvesting to more efficient insect harvesting. My guess is they would be entirely safe to eat, since they have been eaten from time immemorial and the human race still seems to be here more or less in one piece🙂

Some of these genius chef's could probably come up with purees that would taste as good as any from any other source and such.

In the future, the costumer may tell the waiter "there is a fly in my soup" and the waiter says "Well, yes, obviously! It is fly soup just as you ordered Sir"

Originally posted by humy
I am not sure what you mean by “too” labour intensive in this context.

I think it would be more economical to farm them. I also think that catching insects by hand, if reasonably feasible to prevent troublesome pests, then we would do it. However, for most pests, it is simply far too labour intensive - hence the use of insecticides etc.

There would be a large amount of labour involved in collecting them but, looking at that from the more positive angle, that means it creates jobs and reduces unemployment!
Except that if you tried to expand the industry, the supply of pest insects would vanish overnight.

I don't see this as a potential showstopper here.
I agree it isn't a show stopper, but we would still be well advised to choose insects that are not a potential problem. Man has a long history of introducing plants and animals to new places for one purpose which later on become a pest/weed or threat to the natural environment. And life forms can be considerably harder to control than methane gas. Ask the australians about Cane toads and rabbits.

Having said all that though, I cannot help but wonder if a better policy would be for everyone to simply go completely vegetarian.
My problem with vegetarianism is it takes a lot of work - and I am simply too lazy. Offer my good tasting vegetarian meals with the correct balance of vitamins/protein etc and I will gladly be vegetarian. But I simply can't be bothered to figure it all out for myself and then convince my son to eat it too. Its so much easier cooking meals with meat in.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I think it would be more economical to farm them. I also think that catching insects by hand, if reasonably feasible to prevent troublesome pests, then we would do it. However, for most pests, it is simply far too labour intensive - hence the use of insecticides etc.

[b]There would be a large amount of labour involved in collecting them but, looking at ...[text shortened]... or myself and then convince my son to eat it too. Its so much easier cooking meals with meat in.

Except that if you tried to expand the industry, the supply of pest insects would vanish overnight.

Good!

Man has a long history of introducing plants and animals to new places for one purpose which later on become a pest/weed or threat to the natural environment.

This is a separate issue. I presume not all insects that would be farmed would be pest species but, for those that are, there are already laws that prevent the importation of none native animals into a country that could then be accidentally relieved to cause ecological havoc and, if necessary, extra laws could be added to that as a precaution. I doubt very much if, for example, locusts species would be allowed to be imported into the USA for farming them because that would be a pretty stupid and obviously unnecessary risk -why not just stick to the tastiest species of grasshoppers native to USA? I also assume many of the species of insects that would be farmed would be native to the country where they are farmed.

My problem with vegetarianism is it takes a lot of work

I disagree. I once wasn't vegetarian and I personally didn't find becoming vegetarian any effort whatsoever -why would it be hard?

Offer my good tasting vegetarian meals with the correct balance of vitamins/protein etc and I will gladly be vegetarian.

That's easy -just replace meat with various legumes (mainly split-peas, beans, lentils -they, especially with some milk and whole grains in your diet, will give you more than enough protein to prevent any protein deficiency. Don't need to eat a large amount of legumes either! Just a small handful each day is all you need to prevent protein deficiency because research has shown the human body doesn't need nearly as much dietary protein as once thought! ) or, if you cannot stand going without anything that taste like meat and if you prefer, meat substitutes. The vegetable and non-meat parts can stay the same as before.

Its so much easier cooking meals with meat in.

the meat substitutes I have tried cooking actually require less cooking time than real meat and are usually a bit easier to cook. It usually says on the packet how to cook it (however, I have personally found that I still prefer sticking to legumes rather than meat substitutes. But that is just as a result of personal taste )

Originally posted by humy

Except that if you tried to expand the industry, the supply of pest insects would vanish overnight.

Good!

Man has a long history of introducing plants and animals to new places for one purpose which later on become a pest/weed or threat to the natural environment.

This is a separate issue. I presume not all insects ...[text shortened]... cking to legumes rather than meat substitutes. But that is just as a result of personal taste )

Misprint;
"accidentally relieved to cause ecological havoc..."
should be;
"accidentally released to cause ecological havoc..."

I also like to add a last comment to that post of;

"In fact, judging from my personal experience, it is generally just slightly easier to cook meals without meat than with meat."

I have learned that most soya that is grown is fed to animals for red meat production. Where and when the primary justification for eating that red meat is for the protein, it seems that it would make a lot more sense to to me to stop eating that red meat and directly eat the soya instead.

Originally posted by humy
I disagree. I once wasn't vegetarian and I personally didn't find becoming vegetarian any effort whatsoever -why would it be hard?

I am not much of a cook, and the few times I have tried soya products they did not taste nice at all and my son wouldn't eat them.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I am not much of a cook, and the few times I have tried soya products they did not taste nice at all and my son wouldn't eat them.

I guess it also depends on the local cuisine. In e.g. many Indian and Ethiopian cuisines there is excellent vegetarian food. I eat meat or fish almost daily, though.

If you want to eat bugs, go for it.

The post that was quoted here has been removed

That's a pity. They would just have to be collected before swarming.

The post that was quoted here has been removed

Well, there are molluscs that have toxins and they know how to rid them of that stuff before eating them. Maybe some chemical reagent could be found to neutralize them.

Obviously, they wouldn't be going out into fields to collect them, I was just running that up the flagpole and see who salutes🙂

They would clearly do like a salmon farm thing with millions of the things all nice and snug in a nice locus mansion with the out door right by the UV scrub light that kills them and on to the next station in their conversion to ice cream🙂

anyone eating Quorn is eating bacteria.

Originally posted by redbarons
anyone eating Quorn is eating bacteria.

Anyone eating most anything is eating bacteria. Bacteria is on just about everything. I suppose the most common food known for bacteria is yogurt or any other fermented dairy.