Australian_Science_Illustrated_Issue_52_2017

TECHNOLOGY FOOD

38 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED

THE EGGS ARE

PLACED IN DAMP SOIL

After the mating,

females are moved to

a separate container,

in which they place the eggs in

soft soil. The separation

ensures that the eggs are not

eaten before they hatch.

BABY CRICKETS HATCH

IN WARM ROOMS

2

The development of a

cricket depends on the

temperature, so the

containers with freshly laid eggs

are moved to a room with a stable

temperature of 25-30 degrees. The

eggs hatch after 7-10 days.

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

PROVIDE BETTER TASTE

3

Breeders first feed the

insects dry feed, which

makes it easier to keep

the enclosure clean. Once the

creatures are fully grown, they

are fed fresh watermelon, carrots,

and more, to improve taste.

QUICK BOILING KILLS

THE CRICKETS

4

60 days after the eggs

were placed in the soil,

the crickets are fully

grown. Breeders remove them

from the containers and kill them

in boiling water. The taste of

crickets is described as nut-like.

Farms breed tasty

creepy-crawlies

In the Western World, edible insect breeding is

getting ever more common. Breeders' favourite is

the house cricket, which provides the best taste.

EGG-LAYING BABY CRICKET

wealthy countries consume more meat

than people in poor nations.

Countries such as India and China are,

experiencing explosive middle class growth,

and this increasing prosperity is expected to

make Indians and Chinese demand more meat,

which would be a disaster for the environment.

Already now, the breeding of animals to be

slaughtered is putting the world under

pressure in three ways: greenhouse gas

emissions, huge water consumption, and

conversion of habitats to farmland.

Meat production is responsible for huge

greenhouse gas emissions. According to FAO,

meat production accounts for about 14.5 %

of total human-induced CO2 emissions,

because the animals are constantly emitting

lots of methane into the atmosphere.

Methane is a greenhouse gas, which is 23

times more powerful than CO 2.

Water consumption constitutes another

problem. More than 15,000 l of water go into

making just 1 kg of beef. This is not due to

the cow being very thirsty, but rather that

the animal’s feed requires huge quantities of

water to be manufactured. Up to 99 % of the

water going into meat production derives

from animal feed. Experts talk about “virtual

water” – an expression chosen by British

geography professor John Anthony Allan and

covering all the water going into meat

production, but which is not directly visible,

when buying fillet steak at the supermarket.

The high water consumption is

manifested by the fact that major food

producing nations such as the US, India, and

China increasingly have to tap into their

ground water resources to keep the

production going. According to NASA data,

more than half of the 37 largest ground

water reservoirs in the world are shrinking.

And the problem is periodically aggravated by

drought, during which rain water cannot be

used for watering purposes.

The third major meat production problem

is space. Today, the meat industry occupies

70 % of all farmland in the world. If you look

at a world map, there are plenty of vacant

spaces for increasing food production, but

many of the potential new fields are located

in a few countries, where the soil is not fit for

producing the food required.

PLANT AND LAB-GROWN PROTEIN

The three problems have one basic cause: beef

cattle and other domestic animals are very

inefficient when it comes to converting plant

TON KOENE/ALAMY

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