Insects provide strategy for sustainable food production

Did you know that each year 1.3billion tonnes of food are wasted? If a quarter of the world's waste could be saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people in the world. Our bioscientists are helping to tackle this problem as partners in a £10million project to build the UK's first commercial scale black soldier fly (BSF) farm. Alternative proteins for animal feed BSF farming involves feeding surplus food waste to black soldier fly larvae. When harvested, protein can be extracted from the larvae and used as a sustainable alternative to fishmeal or soy-meal in feed for fish, chickens and pigs. The residue that remains after harvesting the fly larvae, known as frass, has huge potential for use as novel organic biofertilisers in agriculture, reducing the need for chemical fertilisers. Soy and fishmeal are key sources of protein for animal feed, but the ever increasing demand for meat, fish and eggs to feed our growing global population is threatening the sustainability of livestock production. New sources of feed proteins are essential if we are to reduce the negative environmental impacts, such as deforestation and the depletion of oceanic biodiversity, associated with the production of conventional protein sources.