gepubliceerd op 2010-05-04 00:00:00.0
“We as people ride along in the insect world. There are about 6 million different species of insects, and there is only one species of humans. For every human there are 200 to 2000 kilos of insects on this planet.” Insects make a big contribution to our economy, according to estimates around 57 billion dollars per year in the United States alone. Worldwide there are 1400 kinds of insects on menus. It would be good if that would be more”, says Marcel Dicke.
According to the FAO, by the year 2050 there will be 9 billion people living on earth. The demand for food will rise by 70%. Especially the demand for proteins will increase fast and cause problems. If you consider that 1 kg of grasshoppers contains are much protein as 6 BigMacs, you know where we should look for the solution. Insects instead of chicken or pork! In many countries insects are seen as a delicacy, but people in America and Europe are disgusted by it. Yet insects have a lot of advantages. They are efficient in turning food into protein, they are genetically very different from people, and they therefore transmit fewer diseases and they do not emit a lot of greenhouse gases. That is 4-0 for the insects! Several companies in the Netherlands have been producing insects for human consumption. In 2020 insects will probably be as common as a meatball!
