Eating insects is not new; in many cultures insects have traditionally made up an important component of people’s diets supplying protein and good fats. What is an emerging area of scientific research though, is using insects as fodder for production animals.
My guest this week, Senior Research Scientist Dr Kristy Digiacomo, is very well acquainted with her research subjects, black soldier flies. Kristy entertainingly talks us through how the larvae of these flies, fed on food waste, can be converted into high quality fodder for production animals and it seems they find it delicious!
We humans produce so much waste, particularly food waste. The ingenuity of growing insects on all our waste is that a low value product (e.g. supermarket waste) that cannot be fed directly to animals becomes a high value, safe food for animals via insects. A very neat circular economy can be created and it’s a big win for sustainability, the crux of what scientists like Kristy are seeking to advance.
Kristy confesses that she has eaten black solder flies…tune in to hear her description of how they taste.
I found my conversation with Kristy so interesting and heartening to find out that so much innovative research is going in to improving agricultural practices and finding sustainable solutions.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE
Seven Seasons Green Ant Gin: https://www.somethingwild.com.au/product-page/green-ant-gin
