Enhanced Biodiversity
Entomophagy provides the potential not only to maintain but improve biodiversity. Not only does cultivating insects promote better farming practices in order to protect the insects which naturally live there, but also the mere presence of an insect species has knock on effects to the rest of the food chain, potentially stabilising other organisms’ populations. Maintaining biodiversity in our world of consumerism and urbanisation is of great importance, and entomophagy offers a way in which it can be done that benefits our population too.
DeFoliart (2010) suggests 6 ways in which farming and eating insects is beneficial for biodiversity:
1. Local populations want to protect traditional food sources resulting in enhanced forest conservation.
2. Reducing poaching in parks by allowing and encouraging the sustainable use of insects as a food resource.
3. Utilising insect pests as a harvested food and thereby reducing or even eliminating the need for pesticide use.
4. Dual production systems that improve the environmental and economic capacity of an industry. For example eat silk worm larvae as a by product in the production of silk.
5. Production of high quality feed stocks from recycled agricultural waste and therefore reducing pollution.
6. Insects enhance their local environment by creating additional diversity in their habitat.
DeFoliart (2010) suggests 6 ways in which farming and eating insects is beneficial for biodiversity:
1. Local populations want to protect traditional food sources resulting in enhanced forest conservation.
2. Reducing poaching in parks by allowing and encouraging the sustainable use of insects as a food resource.
3. Utilising insect pests as a harvested food and thereby reducing or even eliminating the need for pesticide use.
4. Dual production systems that improve the environmental and economic capacity of an industry. For example eat silk worm larvae as a by product in the production of silk.
5. Production of high quality feed stocks from recycled agricultural waste and therefore reducing pollution.
6. Insects enhance their local environment by creating additional diversity in their habitat.