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Humanity Needs to Start Farming Bugs for Food, Says United Nations Policy Paper
Popular Science ^ | Monday, August 2, 2010 | Paul Adams

Posted on 08/02/2010 3:07:19 PM PDT by Willie Green

The raising of livestock consumes two-thirds of the planet's farmland, and is a major source of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, tons of edible, sustainable protein swarms all around us, free for the taking. In a new policy paper being considered by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Belgian entomologist Arnold van Huis makes the sensible recommendation that the western world eat more insects.

Farming edible insects like mealworms and crickets would produce far less greenhouse gas -- 10 times less methane and 100 times less nitrous oxide -- than the large mammals we currently farm. Insects are metabolically much more efficient, which makes them far cheaper to feed and raise; and, since they're so biologically different from humans, they are less subject to contagious disease scares like mad cow. They are high in protein and calcium, and, with over 1,000 edible species, offer plenty of delicious variety.

In April, the FAO started a pilot locust-farming project in Laos, where entomophagy is not unheard of, but where it's been in decline under the cultural influence of the West. According to the Guardian, 15,000 household farmers already raise locusts in Thailand, and that expertise can be transferred elsewhere.

Introducing a bug-rich diet to the western world might be more of a challenge, although it's certainly not unheard of. A British author named Vincent Holt published an essay advocating it in 1885, along with a nice selection of menus -- moths on toast, anyone? -- in a pamphlet called Why Not Eat Insects?

(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Gardening; Science
KEYWORDS: climategate; eatingbugs; globalwarminghoax; un
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To: Howie66

“Reminds me of that old bumper sticker: Save a tree, eat a beaver.”

It is about time someone lowers themselves to my level. That (my good friend..Juan Mcamnesty) is appreciated but frowned upon. I always look up at FR. There are some true geniuses, and then there are sleeper idiots. There are no rino’s. Damn shame. They might learn something.


41 posted on 08/02/2010 5:12:00 PM PDT by mirkwood (54 degrees f this morning in Steuben, maine)
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To: Retired Greyhound

Our recently departed Attack Cat (TJ) had at least 2 copperheads to his credit. He didn’t eat them, either. Just deposited their mangled corpses at our back door step.

TJ is now in that great litter box in the sky....waiting to catch the obama’s playing in a sandbox..... ;)


42 posted on 08/02/2010 5:31:35 PM PDT by Howie66 (I can see November from my house.)
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To: mirkwood

:)~


43 posted on 08/02/2010 5:32:39 PM PDT by Howie66 (I can see November from my house.)
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To: Willie Green

So, at the next poverty summit, I take it the UN delegates will be eating grasshoppers and cockroaches, instead of lobster, filet Mignon, and caviar?


44 posted on 08/02/2010 7:24:44 PM PDT by FlyVet
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To: KevinDavis; AdmSmith; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; bigheadfred; blueyon; Convert from ECUSA; ...
The raising of livestock consumes two-thirds of the planet's farmland, and is a major source of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, tons of edible, sustainable protein swarms all around us, free for the taking.
In the Star Trek TNG episode about this, it turned out that Starfleet had been taken over by insect-eating aliens. That episode sucked too.
45 posted on 08/03/2010 3:29:59 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: SunkenCiv; Impy; TigersEye; Quix

A perfect example of a Sunken-Civilization.


46 posted on 08/04/2010 6:35:29 AM PDT by Arthur Wildfire! March (Want stimulus? Look to Harding, JFK, and Reagan. Tax cuts work. FAnnie/FReddie hurt.)
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To: Arthur Wildfire! March; NFHale; GOPsterinMA; Perdogg; Clintonfatigued; fieldmarshaldj; ...
Farming edible insects like mealworms and crickets would produce far less greenhouse.

Oh yum mealworms. Well if they have meal in their name.....

A new level of wackjob has been reached by the UN.

We're gonna take you back, to the year 1939 when Charlie Chaplin and his nazi regime enslaved Europe and tried to take over the world... ...But then an even greater force emerged, the U.N. [pronounced "un"] and the U.N. un-nazied the world - forever.


47 posted on 08/04/2010 7:24:33 AM PDT by Impy (DROP. OUT. MARK. KIRK.)
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To: AuH2ORepublican; BillyBoy

Ping to 46.


48 posted on 08/04/2010 7:32:15 AM PDT by Impy (DROP. OUT. MARK. KIRK.)
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To: Arthur Wildfire! March

Ain’t the plans of these folks:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2475963/posts?page=60#60

GRAND?


49 posted on 08/04/2010 7:56:02 AM PDT by Quix (THE PLAN of the Bosses: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2519352/posts?page=2#2)
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To: Arthur Wildfire! March

Quit staring at my exoskeleton! ;’)


50 posted on 08/04/2010 8:07:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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