Eating insects instead of beef could help tackle climate change by reducing emissions linked to livestock production, research suggests.
Eating insects instead of beef could help tackle climate change by reducing emissions linked to livestock production, research suggests.
Replacing half of the meat eaten worldwide with crickets and mealworms would cut farmland use by a third, substantially reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, researchers say.
While consumers' reluctance to eat insects may limit their consumption, even a small increase would bring benefits, the team says. This could potentially be achieved by using insects as ingredients in some pre-packaged foods.
Using data collected primarily by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, scientists have compared the environmental impacts of conventional meat production with those of alternative sources of food. It is the first study to do so.
Read more at The University of Edinburgh
Photo credit: Charles Haynes from Hobart, Australia via Wikimedia Commons
