IFS-NET: Insect Food Security NETwork

Entomophagy defines many humans' close relationship with insects -- specifically their use as a food. Insects are rich in essential nutrients and regularly provide much needed nutrition to over 2bn people around the world. Insect protein contains all essential amino acids, and are rich in calories, micronutrients (e.g. more iron than beef) and vitamins (B vitamins).

Insect farming is a quickly growing new sector of agricultural technology, where insects are grown on a range of organic feedstocks ranging from food wastes to agricultural by-products. It is a highly efficient way to farm essential nutrients -- especially proteins; whilst also being a highly sustainable alternative to many existing animal proteins and foods. Most of the focus in this field has been in the growing of insects to make animal feed. Despite over 2bn people globally consuming insects as part of their diet, insect food consumption remains marginal in the UK and other western states.

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has shed new light on the precarious nature of global food supply chains in times of severe societal distress. There is a significant risk that a prolonged or more severe crisis could impact our nation's ability to provide sufficient and appropriate nutrition to the broader population should food supply chains get disrupted further.

This project will investigate the utilization of insects as a means to produce quality, nutritious food for humans from locally available organic feedstocks. We will upgrade existing technologies developed for the animal feed sector to match the more stringent requirements of human food production & processing, and thus develop new products and services capable of addressing future food security risks. A successful outcome of the project will be the development of a new system capable of boosting local food security and protecting against malnutrition and famine in times of severe societal distress similar or worse than the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.