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How about cricket farming for use in livestock feed? It's a high protein source that uses fewer resources than traditional feedstock. Sure, it's a secondary pr
by fudged71 6y ago
How about cricket farming for use in livestock feed? It's a high protein source that uses fewer resources than traditional feedstock.
Sure, it's a secondary product, but could have large impacts.
- chrisco255 6y agoFrom what I understand about chicken and pig feed, soy meal is typically used, and it's from the part of the bean that humans don't use, since the oil is the key ingredient in so many foods consumed by people. Is cricket farming more efficient than soy farming? Seems like the economies of scale for soy are so much greater.
- stjohnswarts 6y agoI think we're talking about veggies here, no? I think at some point we'll have to turn to insects for our protein needs though.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- yreg 6y agoWe can get all the protein we need from plants if we want to.
- ada1981 6y agoMushrooms are a protein dense food that can be grown indoors with little energy needs.
- kaba0 6y agoThough mushrooms contain large amounts of chitin which we can’t really digest, so I’m not sure they would be a good fit as base food.
- cageface 6y agoPlant protein is easier to grow and perfectly adequate for human nutrition. This obsession with animal protein is unscientific.
- rewq4321 6y agoYeah, the cricket protein thing is a fad. Anything that can be produced by an animal, can be produced by a (potentially genetically-modified) plant or yeast more efficiently. Animals are above plants trophic-level-wise, and their feed conversion efficiency can't be more than 100%. That said, insects are way more efficient than mammals at converting plants into human-edible calories thanks in part to their lack of internal temperature control and growth rate.[0] If you had to choose an animal to use as a protein-constructor, crickets would be a great choice. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio#Insects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_ratio#Insects
- cubano 6y agoSo your saying that I have to decide that all of a sudden I can't wait to eat crickets because they are more efficient? That just seems to me like a choice that very few humans are actually going to make.
- ardy42 6y ago> That just seems to me like a choice that very few humans are actually going to make. It seems very HN to take the perspective of an aloof farmer-of-humans rather than that of an actual human.
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago>> So your saying that I have to decide that all of a sudden I can't wait to eat crickets because they are more efficient? No no, not you. All the poor people. They're the ones who will be fed "efficiently". You and I and most people on HN will retain our privilege to eat what we want.
- 6y ago
- Retric 6y agoIt’s common for chickens and other poultry or even cows to be grown indoors. Animals don’t need direct sunlight, but they still need food grown somewhere.
- mschuster91 6y ago> Animals don’t need direct sunlight They do, at least per animal welfare standards.
- fouric 6y agoThat's not the definition of "need" that GP was using...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- tsdlts 6y agoI find this comment utterly harrowing.