Hello ,

On Friday, Food for Mzanzi (a South African agriculture publication) published an article titled "Locust outbreak: Could farmers turn pests to profit?" where they explore the idea of collecting and processing the current locusts plagues into a protein rich animal fodder or fertilizer.

If you want to read the article here is the link to it: https://www.foodformzansi.co.za/locust-outbreaks-could-farmers-turn-pests-to-profit/ 

Another potential use for the Locusts could even be entomophagy or humans eating insects. Over the last few years we have seen many different edible insects being tested for human consumption, yet none of them have become commercially available as of yet.

The main question, however, is why not? Many will say that the main reason is ignorance, but I would disagree. Irrespective whether you know insects are a far superior protein source than meat, being more easily digested and absorbed into your body, or that producing them is much less harmful to the planet and much cheaper, we are still reluctant to consume insects.

I believe the main reason is the "gross" factor. Most of us are raised with the idea that insects are gross and we should leave them alone, and that is what is hindering us from consuming them as a good and viable food source. Many of the global cultures have consumed insects as part of their regular diet and for them eating insects is as normal as eating beef or mutton is for us.

The main question that I want to leave you with is: Would you be willing to take the risk and try entomophagy if you were presented the opportunity?

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