Is turning food waste into insect feed an uphill climb? A review of persistent challenges

One major hurdle for our current food system is the enormous amount of food that goes to waste. Insect farming has been proposed as a potential solution, offering one way to turn waste into agricultural resources such as livestock and aquaculture feed. In this article, we review the types of materials currently used to raise insects at commercial scales, and we examine whether those materials compete with conventional animal agriculture or other economic sectors. While the idea of turning trash into treasure for insect agriculture may be appealing in theory, the reality is more challenging. Only some types of insects can be farmed using food waste, while others perform poorly. The inconsistent nature of food waste, in terms of both supply and quality, makes food waste poorly suited for large-scale insect farms that need to produce a consistently high-quality product. This means that insect-farming companies tend to rely on the same high-quality feeds already sought by other industries. Furthermore, competition exists for the types of food waste that could be used by insect agriculture, with agriculture, aquaculture, pet food manufacturing, and biogas production already seeking to use this waste. The types of food waste that can be used in insect farming are limited due to risks that contamination poses to food safety. To truly leverage food waste in insect agriculture, especially considering the dispersed nature of household and municipal waste streams, substantial logistical investments would be required. Overall, turning food waste into insect feed faces a range of persistent challenges that makes the widespread use of insects in addressing food waste an uphill climb.