The latest study to challenge insect farming has been criticised by leading lights in the UK’s insect farming industry.
‘Have the environmental benefits of insect farming been overstated? A critical review’, published on 29 October in Biological Reviews, asserted insect farming was less environmentally-friendly than many touted it to be.
The study of 352 papers said there were biodiversity risks, concerns over genetic contamination, circular economy flaws, sustainability issues, and questions over insect farming’s economic viability.
However, the industry has played down these warnings.
“We believe there are many inaccuracies in it,” said Julian Knight, co-founder of Fairman Knight & Sons, an insect farming business based in Lincolnshire.
Fairman Knight specialises in the farming of black soldier flies and said there are a range of voices on the topic, “often completely baseless and without any practical industrial experience”.
“Often after a developing market shakes out the first movers, a new cycle of practised and educated producers emerge, learning the lessons of the first wave and going on to enjoy exponential growth,” he added.
The edible insect industry has suffered a series of setbacks in recent years, with the closure of startups and studies reporting edible insects face significant barriers due to consumer psychology and culture, taste and price.
Co-author of the study, Dr Dustin Crummett, asserted that insect farming was “usually worse” for the environment than other options. This was dismissed by Knight as “ill-advised”.
Knight emphasised that the business is bringing a positive impact to the environment through removing 150 tonnes of food waste destined for landfill.
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The report was welcomed by Dr Gesa Reiss, a senior innovation fellow at the University of Leeds, who said it offered “a critical review of the industry which provides good insight on its vulnerabilities”.
However, although the report correctly highlighted that “there are significant knowledge gaps concerning commercial insect farming” there were many flaws, the biggest being its generalisation of ‘insect farming’, she said.
“It omits to highlight that currently used species have completely different requirements, in the ecological sense, as well as uses and hence impact,” she said. “The authors unhelpfully chose species and data in order to support their specific statement.”
She also dismissed concerns raised by the report over antimicrobial resistance, citing not much evidence and asserting “many insects naturally secrete antimicrobial peptides to protect themselves from pathogens”.
She argued it was not necessarily the case that insect farming was worse for the environment, as access to data was more difficult due to commercial confidentiality.
“Ammonia emissions can be an issue but, unlike livestock, methane and nitrous oxide emissions are negligible,” she said. “Farming insects such as black soldier flies does divert food waste that is destined for landfill or composting, and hence reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with food waste.”
Reiss was positive about the future of the UK industry and said it “would prevail”.
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