Rhonda Smith, Director of Minerva, was at the Glasgow Science Festival in June, taking part in a key debate on future food security, “Can eating insects save the world?”
That was the question a panel of invited experts, including Rhonda, addressed last month at the Festival, one of the largest annual science events in the UK attracting more than 50,000 people.
The event, which took place at the Glasgow Science Centre, was chaired by behavioural genetics expert Professor Kevin O’Dell from Glasgow University and included a screening of the film ‘Can eating insects save the world?’, featuring ‘TV gastronaut’, Stefan Gates.
The film was followed by an interactive discussion and Q&A session from an audience of specialists and the public. Rhonda appeared on the panel alongside insect and culinary experts, to highlight the research being carried out by the EC-funded PROteINSECT project, and to discuss the potential for insects to help address the challenge of future food security.
PROteINSECT is investigating insects as a sustainable protein source in animal feed and as part of its remit is measuring consumer acceptance across Europe.
Rhonda says: “Whilst in the ‘developed’ world eating insects directly by people has little or no history and is usually resisted, many of the animals we consume have insects as part of their natural diet – free range chicken for instance. This important aspect of ‘entomophagy’ must not be forgotten in this current enthusiastic debate about the potential of insects to ‘save the planet’.”
PROteINSECT has recently launched an online survey to further the current understanding of consumer perception on the content (current and potential) of animal feed.