ALTERNATIVE PROTEINS MAGAZINE
How BSF is ‘closing the loop’ by building a zero-waste food system
Creative Marketing and Media Manager at Beta Bugs Ltd, Nicola Gardner talks to Alternative Proteins Magazine about how the Black Soldier Fly is tackling environmental issues head on and how farmers can adopt insect farming into their current processes.
Now more than ever, it is important for the insect-farming industry to step up and scale up – a feat which is largely possible through new market entrants such as farmers and entrepreneurs setting up their own insect farming operations.
How the Black Soldier Fly is Tackling Environmental Issues Head On
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates around £31.5M per year of food, or 14% of global food production, is wasted from harvest to shelves. Consumers waste another 17% of food after retail purchase, according to UN EP’s food waste report. In a world where 40% of the food, on average, goes to landfills or into other waste streams, BSF provides an attractive solution to the problem.
BSF can be fed onsite waste from other food processes, recycling organic waste into high-value end-products used by the same indus tries to produce other products, minimising the use of new raw materials.
BSF has applications in aquaculture, terrestrial protein, pet food, human supplements, biopesticides, and pharmaceuticals. These sectors, which need to reduce unsustainable inputs, have well-established, high-volume demand end markets with attractive margins for top-quality proteins.
How Farmers Can Leverage Insect Farming into Current Processes
As a result of the industry’s efforts to date, insect farming has become increasingly accessible, with multiple turnkey solutions now available, removing the need for spending time in extensive R&D and planning phases. As a result, a new generation of operators and insect farmers will enter the market to compete in supplying current and future demand for insect protein.
Farmers are seriously considering farming insects as a means of generating revenue, reducing their use of soya in animal feed, and localizing their protein production. There are a range of production options, from small, on-farm units to units that are as large as a farm in its entirety. By producing protein locally using locally derived materials, insect farming provides perfect opportunities for farmers who want to use insect protein directly in their feed, or to sell it on to feed manufacturers.
Now is an exceptionally good time to farm insects as there is more off-the-shelf insect farming equipment and know-how available from well-known suppliers, making it easier to farm insects. By joining in at this moment, farmers are able to leverage a local, yet global, opportunity and be part of one of the world’s fastest growing industries.
Read the full article by Alternative Proteins Magazine here
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