Des insectes dans l’assiette?

A look at the news - Hélène Lavoyer

This week, a very Swiss event managed not to be overshadowed by the sad news from Barcelona and the Trumpian adventures: the announcement of the start of steaks... of crickets, worms and locusts. «Gross!.

At the barbecue, vegetarians and omnivores spiced up the debate. On one side, there are the «proponents», on the other, the repugs. It's understandable that worms, which are avoided and are more likely to rot, are disgusting. Locusts and crickets, on the other hand, belong in a field.

So much information is circulating about insect or worm-based foods that it's hard to know anything about this diet known as «entomophagy». It's believed that they contain more protein for the same amount of food, that worms will save the world from famine, or that certain economic and environmental concerns will be lightened thanks to these disgusting bugs. Is this convincing information true? Two billion people have made them the staple of their diet. Can they be wrong?

The solution we've been waiting for?

L’Organisation pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (Food and Agriculture Organization) a rendu public un dossier dans lequel il est question non seulement des avantages de manger des insectes, mais également des raisons pour lesquelles cela semble être «la» solution.

Par exemple, la consommation de viande et de poisson – sources principales de protéines pour beaucoup de personnes – n’a cessé de croître au cours des dernières décennies, à tel point que la question se pose aujourd’hui: comment répondre à cette demande? De plus, le coût environnemental de ces types de production est gigantesque. La FAO a placé les insectes dans la liste des aliments qui pourraient bien aider à annihiler ces problèmes, parmi pois, algues, champignons et même viande «in vitro».

A European first

Yet the food revolution, which is trying to get off the ground, is struggling (yes, because «it's gross») to create a good following. Switzerland is therefore the first European country to make such ideas available to the public, and despite the sales authorization received in May 2017, it's not until August 21 that Coop has made up its mind. Migros, meanwhile, has yet to make any concrete use of the channel. This is to be expected, given the surveys conducted by the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH), in which fewer than 10% of Swiss say they'd be willing to give it a try, although 32% are «not fundamentally opposed» to trying it.

Fortunately, because we've all eaten insects, at least indirectly. Check whether your food contains the food additive E120. Discreet, but very present - in Campari, certain yogurts and M&M's, for example - this coloring agent is made from cochineal, an arthropod native to South America. Some sources report, however, that it is possible to chemically recreate the color produced by dactylopius coccus.

Health first

As disgusting as they are, insects are actually packed with nutrients essential to human beings; their protein and mineral content is high, and some species are a good source of healthy fats. Our hated creatures also contain good quantities of iron and zinc.

Et lorsqu’il est question de santé, c’est aussi d’hygiène qu’il faut parler. Si l’élevage intensif comme pratiqué de nos jours présente des risques de zoonoses – des infections transmises d’animal à humain, comme la grippe aviaire, la maladie de Lyme et même Ebola –, ils sont plus faibles dans les élevages d’insectes. La plus grande attention doit être portée au nettoyage de l’environnement dans lequel l’élevage évolue. Il s’agit par exemple de mettre en place des cages à trous, par lesquels passent les déjections animales afin qu’ils ne s’en nourrissent pas, et de vider, désinfecter, replacer le bac où elles se sont déposées. Les aliments doivent également attirer l’oeil attentif de l’éleveur: pas question de laisser pourrir quoi que ce soit.

A response to environmental concerns

Here's the number: eight kilos. That's the amount of food needed to produce just one kilo of beef, whereas only two kilos are needed to harvest one kilo of insect meat. In fact, insects are the «perfect children» of the animal world, because they love almost any kind of food. Goodbye forages, supplements, soy and grass crops! Insects are satisfied with organic waste.

A positive balance sheet, too, in terms of water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The figures on this subject are staggering: where it takes a minimum of 13,500 liters of water to produce a kilo of beef (the number taking into account the water used to produce the animal's feed as well as its own consumption), only a few (between one and eight, depending on the source) will offer an insect steak of the same weight.

The «but» we avoid saying

Chanter la gloire des insectes, oui, sans oublier pour autant qu’ils présentent de réels risques pour l’homme. Tout d’abord et comme pour n’importe quelle denrée alimentaire, il y a des risques sanitaires qui se doivent d’être connus, qu’il est indispensable de savoir contrôler par une mise en place de règles strictes. Les principaux dangers de l’élevage d’insectes et de vers sont phyisques (c’est-à-dire que certaines parties des petites bêtes pourraient être mal digérées voire «cassées», comme le dard ou la rostre), chimiques bien sûr, par les pesticides ou polluants organiques qui pourraient contaminer la culture ou encore aux conditions d’élevage et de production (empaquetage, période de vie de l’aliment). Les adeptes entomophages devront également donner une attention particulière aux allergènes communs de l’ensemble des espèces arthropodes tels que mollusques, crustacés ou acariens.

In the climate of environmental urgency that has prevailed for decades, many initiatives have been possible. Entomophagy is one of them, and the question deserves to be treated with care, as far away as possible from conventions, formidable barriers to change. Perhaps this time, Switzerland will have been the forerunner of a new regime, and it's certain that the small country will have raised the necessary question of a possible openness of mind... and stomach.

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Photo credit: © bril.brussels.be