Would you eat insects? Young Australians are hungry for them - but they’re hard to find

Matthew Freidman is part of a growing trend of young Australians willing to see insects as a food source as a more sustainable option. The only issue is availability. He fixed that by farming his own.

A new study has shown young people are keen to eat insects as they're a sustainable protein source Source: The Feed

Twenty-five-year old Matthew Freidman has been vegetarian for close to fifteen years and vegan for the past two.

But he made an exemption from this diet to consume mealworms that he farmed himself inside a cupboard in his Sydney home.

“They taste pretty good, you can fry them up and they have a nutty flavour so you can crush them up and use them as you would use crushed nuts,” he told The Feed.

Matthew eating mealworms with pancakes Source: Supplied

“You can add chilli and salt to have them as a snack or grind them down and use them as a protein powder.” 

Matthew told The Feed he’s vegan primarily for environmental reasons, as he believes industrial animal farming is unsustainable.

“With the mealworms, I could tell exactly where they were coming from and they’re a sustainable food source cause they don’t need much space, food or water,” he said.

A bowl of fried mealworms from Matthew's farm Source: Supplied

“I bought about 200 grams from my local pet shop which cost me $12.95, I got a couple of generations out of that batch before I had to buy more cause they kept escaping the enclosure.”

Matthew is not alone in his desire to eat insects. A recent study by RMIT found just over half of those surveyed would be likely to eat insects as a protein alternative, with that number increasing to more than 80 percent in those who’ve already tried insects.

It found that people were mostly deterred by the lack of availability of insect products

A Protein Substitute

Insects have been a part of Jonathan Gibson’s diet for the past year.

Jonathan Gibson and his daughter Willow Maggie Gibson Source: Supplied

The 34-year-old from Brisbane told The Feed that over the last few years he’s become less comfortable with eating meat regularly.

“I really enjoy all proteins, particularly meats and barbecuing but I’ve been looking for ways to lower my environmental footprint,” he said.

“I find pasta made with cricket powder will fill me up a bit more than just eating a vegetarian meal, so I can have more meat-free days throughout the week if I eat insects a couple of times.”

“Or I might eat some roasted and flavoured crickets rather than eating beef jerky.”

Source: Supplied

Jonathan said one of the hurdles he has with insect foods is the cost. He pays up to $20 for a packet of cricket pasta. 

“It is still quite a niche thing so the food is expensive. I even looked into farming my own crickets at home, but it was a bit of a challenge.”

Dr Jess Danaher, a dietitian and senior lecturer at RMIT, co-authored the recent study into people’s attitudes around eating insects.

Dr Jess Danaher from RMIT co-authored the recent study Source: Supplied

She told The Feed they observed some people who were vegetarian were willing to eat insects.

“We didn’t look at it specifically, but food decisions are very complex and it comes down to  whether people are vegetarian for environmental reasons or for ethical reasons,” she said.

Jess also said that in order to feed the worlds growing population, we’re going to need sustainable protein food sources. 

“It’s predicted we’ll have a 75 per cent increase in protein demands over the next 30 years when the world’s population will hit 9.7 billion people,” she said.

“We know they [insects] use up less land, energy and water than cattle.”

“Insects have a protein content similar to traditional sources of protein like cattle. They are also a rich source of fats and high energy minerals like iron.” 

Leyne Elbourne likes the idea of a sustainable protein source. She's also vegan and willing to try insects in the future.

“I think if insects can be produced on a large scale to make sustainable food, thats interesting to me,” said the 40-year-old.

“But the jury is still out on their level of sentience, so I probably wouldn’t seek them out tomorrow.”

How insects are farmed

Entomologist Skye Blackburn has been running her own insect food business, Circle Harvest, for close to fifteen years.

Skye Blackburn with some edible insects Source: Supplied

She farms crickets, mealworms and ants in Sydney. They are fed the waste scraps of produce that doesn’t make it onto the supermarket shelves.

“One of our most popular products is cricket corn chips, they just taste like regular corn chips but they have crickets in them,” said Skye.

She’s long been an advocate for eating insects and has been touring Australian classrooms teaching children about the benefits of eating them.

Cricket protein powder cookies Source: Supplied

“Insects won’t replace things like steak, sausages and lamb chops in our diets right now but, think of it as more of a nutritious addition to your food.

“Take cricket protein powder, for example  - it has an almondy taste on its own but absorbs the flavor of things around it so you can make it sweet or savoury.”

“One tablespoon [of cricket protein powder] has half your recommended daily intake of iron, calcium and forty per-cent of your b12 and omega 3 and 6 intake. It’s like a multivitamin.”

The protein content of crickets, mealworms and beef are similar, yielding roughly 20 g of protein per 100g.  

However crickets and mealworms have more calcium and vitamin C than beef. Crickets contain more iron as well.

The desire for alternative and sustainable proteins has been on the rise in the last few years with fast-food chains such as Hungry Jacks and KFC offering adding meat alternatives to their menus.

Burger chain Grill’d recently transformed two of its stores in Sydney and Melbourne into meat-free only restaurants.

Professor Kerry Wilkinson from the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture has been working in the space of edible insects for the last few years as a “passion project”.

Professor Kerry Wilkinson from the University of Adelaide Source: Supplied

She told The Feed Australia is still an emerging market for edible insects, with most of the developments coming from Europe. 

“Farming insects for human consumption offers sustainability benefits in comparison to livestock as insects are coldblooded - they don’t need as much heat and feed compared to warm-blooded animals like sheep,” she said.

“They produce less greenhouse gasses, and require need less space and water.”

Professor Wilkinson did mention that insects need to be kept at certain temperatures throughout the year which would require energy to maintain.

This is something Matt noticed when he farmed his mealworms. He told The Feed that Sydney winters were too cold for them, which was one of the reasons he stopped farming them.

“I am looking to start it up again, I just need a little more space at the moment,” he said.

“It’s a really rewarding process, it's what I imagine it’s like growing your own tomatoes and eating them.”