UN agency to world's serfs: Eat bugs they are the food of the future - Ewww

Beetles, caterpillars and wasps could supplement diets around the world as an environmentally friendly food source if only Western consumers could get over their "disgust", the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Monday.

UN agency to world's serfs: Eat bugs they are the food of the future - Ewww Art692119502620x349

"The main message is really: 'Eat insects'", Eva Mueller, director of forest economics at the FAO, told a press conference in Rome.

Insects can supplement traditional feed sources such as soy, maize, grains and fishmeal.

"Insects are abundant and they are a valuable source of protein and minerals," she said. "Two billion people, a third of the world's population, are already eating insects because they are delicious and nutritious," she said.

Also speaking at the press conference was Gabon Forestry Minister Gabriel Tchango who said: "Insect consumption is part of our daily life."
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He said some insects, like beetle larvae and grilled termites, were delicacies.

"Insects contribute about 10 percent of animal protein consumed by the population," he said.

The report said insect farming was "one of the many ways to address food and feed insecurity".

"Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly, and they have high growth and feed conversion rates and a low environmental footprint," said the report, co-authored by the FAO and Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/bugs-are-food-of-the-future-un-agency-20130513-2jijt.html#ixzz2TEyvwGZn

UN agency to world's serfs: Eat bugs they are the food of the future - Ewww

UN agency to world's serfs: Eat bugs they are the food of the future - Ewww

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