Could you stomach bugs? Our future may depend on it

BEETLE bread? Choc-coated crickets? How about bug biscuits? Exploding prices and looming shortages mean we may have to find space for insects in our food chain — and soon.

BEETLE bread? Choc-coated crickets? How about bug biscuits? While insects may not be in our pantries right now, exploding prices and looming shortages mean we may have to find space for them in our food chain — and soon.

Bugs. Grubs. Beetles. They’re a natural source of protein, minerals and nutrients.

So why are we so squeamish when it comes to putting them on our plate?

“Obviously the idea of picking up an insect — albeit roasted and not pulled straight out of the garden — has a certain ‘yuck’ factor,” says the University of Adelaide’s Associate Professor Kerry Wilkinson.

But that reaction is cultural. Africa and Asia have few such qualms.

Here, bugs could be so much more than just a novelty snack on an Outback tour, she says.

They could become a lucrative local industry.

Bugs need far less agricultural land, a lot less water and a lot less valuable feed than conventional meat animals. They could even be fed on agricultural waste — something South Australia has an abundance of when it comes to wines.

Bug farming could produce a highly nutritious, mineral-rich flour or paste.

It’s all about efficiency. Making the best use of the foods and resources we have.

“Minced bugs may sound icky,” Dr Wilkinson says, “But it could be used to make mineral and nutrient-rich breads or biscuits.”

We’re a long way off having selections of insects on our supermarket shelves.

But they may soon help to keep the prices of the fish and poultry already there at affordable levels.

“While we’re currently looking into consumers’ attitudes towards edible bugs, our next project will focus on how to grow them,” Dr Wilkinson says. “This includes what alternate waste food-stocks are viable, and — if we were to replace fish and poultry farm diets with them — how would a bug-based diet change their nutrition and taste?”

BUGGED BY FOOD PRICES?

Australia’s going to have to supplement its strained food sources somehow, Dr Wilkinson says. And sooner than we expect.

We’ve already had a taste of what is to come.

Remember when the Murray almost dried up? When South Australia’s citrus orchards were being ripped out of the ground?

Such intense weather events are already happening more often.

“But as soon as the drought broke, food security went off the agenda,” says Associate Professor of Global Food Studies Dr Wendy Umberger.

We may have forgotten, but there was a very real global food crisis back in 2005-2008. It brought empty supermarket shelves and across-the-board leaps in prices for us all.

Fresh fruit and vegetables were the worst hit with price spikes of between 30 to 40 per cent. Eggs and bread rose 17 per cent, beef went up 31 per cent and lamb leapt 59 per cent. Honey prices doubled.

We know this will happen again, Dr Umberger says. It may be sooner than we think.

This year we’re staring down the barrel of another significant El Niño weather anomaly. The last one triggered the long and debilitating drought which contributed to those price rises.

Can we afford to maintain such taboos in a world of $3 bananas and honey worth its weight in gold?

For example: Is fresh fish still a regular part of your menu?

“We’ve seen the prices of fish go up enormously already,” Dr Wilkinson says. “Soon it will be the same for other livestock, such as beef cattle, pork and lamb.”

In large part, that’s because of pressure on the supply of grain-based feed stocks, grains which would better serve us as flour for bread.

“When we think of food security, there’s one idea everyone focuses on: That there’s not enough food. Right?” asks Dr Umberger. “Wrong. There’s lots of research to show that there is enough food. It’s just getting it where it’s needed that’s the issue. Through restricting trade, research and alternatives, we’re creating insecurity.”

Which brings us back to bugs. Are you happy to go hungry due to an outmoded mindset?

“We need to look at ways of overcoming barriers to insect consumption in Australia,” Dr Wilkinson says, “and improving acceptance of both edible insects and products with insect-based ingredients.”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“Heat, cold and flood: That’s what we’ve got to expect more of,” says Professor Stephen Tyerman of the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine. “So we’ve got to make our agriculture more resilient if we want to keep eating.”

While advances are being made in the abilities of our oats and wheats to resist salt and heat stress, these pressures will only continue to grow.

“We need to be more efficient in our food chain,” Dr Umberger says. “We have to use land more wisely, and make sure that land remains productive. We cannot afford to have that degraded. We’ve got to make sure we’re keeping the quality of that land so it’s productive. We’ve got water, but we need to make sure it’s good quality water. We’ve also got to make sure our efficiency is maintained, so that we at the very least keep the same food output as we are getting today. And we’ve got to keep doing the research needed to keep all this happening.”

Then there’s switching, swapping and squeezing the most of that food chain.

“Can we take waste products from wine industry and use that as a feed stock for insects?” Dr Wilkinson asks. “Does this in turn influence nutritional value and flavour? That’s what we need to find out.”

Crickets. Mealworms. Ants. Cockroaches.

Once processed, the bugs will be unrecognisable as a high protein flour or powder. These can then be baked into pellets.

Such bug-based pellets have the potential to become a new feed in poultry and fish farms — freeing up precious grains for the human end of the food chain.

But bug flour itself still has the potential to end up on our plates.

Insects are good sources of protein, mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, fibre, vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates.

“It could be incorporated as a nutrient supplement into common products, breads or biscuits for example,” Dr Wilkinson says.

And don’t completely discard the unprocessed variety.

“Perhaps the addition of flavourings coatings may influence acceptance,” she says.

Chocolate-coated crickets, anyone?

So why not start now?

“Even if it doesn’t take off locally, bug harvesting could be a huge potential export market,” says Dr Wilkinson.

WHEN IT COMES TO THE CRUNCH

So what’s wrong with a minced bug sausage?

“I don’t see there is any issue,” Dr Wilkinson says. “I’m sure there are a lot of things people eat that they have no real understanding of what’s in it or behind it.”

It’s a matter of mindset.

While our food prejudices are well intentioned, they could accidentally end up starving our future.

Are organic growing methods enough to feed 11 million people? Is it the most fuel efficient and water efficient technique anyway? Are our livestock and crops up to the task?

“So if you’re feeling you’re doing something really good for the environment buying free range eggs, you’re not,” Dr Umberger says. “And actually by doing it, you may be doing something worse. So it’s time we demand real information and standards, and take it upon ourselves as good citizens — don’t just blame it on the food manufacturers, of course they’re going to market to you.”

In Australia, ‘organic’ is a poorly defined word. Consumers think it means animal and environment friendly. Marketers think differently.

“If you’re really caring about food security for the future, ask: Is buying organic better? Is buying free range better? What are the viable alternatives? What do these catchcries really mean? Question those claims and demand truthful information,” says Dr Umberger. “Start being serious if you really care about feeding the future.”

“And that just might mean looking to novel food sources, such as edible insects” adds Dr Wilkinson.

Could you change your mind?

That’s the challenge Dr Wilkinson is investigating: Exactly what would it take for your average Australian to feel happy ordering a side serve of fried bugs …

“I think that if people were to actually try it and understood the cost and environmental benefits, bug-based foods would have real potential,” Dr Wilkinson says.

Interested? Read more about the University of Adelaide’s research at http://blogs.adelaide.edu.au/research/

@JamieSeidel