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Insects: Food of the Future

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All over the world the demand for food is increasing. The human population is anticipated to grow from six billion in 2000 to nine billion in 2050. Meat production is predicted to double within the same amount, as demand grows from rising wealth. Pastures and fodder already deplete seventy percent of all agricultural land, therefore increasing livestock production would need increasing agricultural land area at the expense of rain forests and different natural lands. Officers at the United Nations Food associated Agriculture Organization recently predicted that beef might become an extreme luxury item by 2050, like caviar, as a result of rising production prices. Edible insects have long been used by ethnic groups in Asia, Africa, Mexico and South America as cheap and sustainable sources of protein, and the major role of entomophagy in human food security is well-documented. Up to 2,086 species are consumed by 3,071 ethnic groups in 130 countries. While more attention is needed to fully assess the potential of edible insects, they provide a natural source of essential carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins and offer an opportunity to bridge the gap in protein consumption between poor and wealthy nations but also to lessen the Ecological footprint. Some argue that the combination of increasing land use pressure, climate change, and food grain shortages due to the use of corn as a biofuel feedstock will cause serious challenges for attempts to meet future

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