Reducing the global environmental impact of livestock production: the minilivestock option

In this backdrop it is essential that we look at the potential of minilivestock, especially insects. As brought out in this paper, human beings have evolved as entomophagous species and there are even suggestions that some of the special proteins and other constituents present in the insects might have helped the human brain to develop as rapidly as it did to enable its evolution into Home sapiens. Moreover, several species of insects are prized delicacies in advanced countries like Japan, Australia, and Europe. Hence, insects are not restricted to being 'subsistence food' of grossly impoverished people as one might imagine though a lot of species do help the world's poor to survive. If other virtues of insects are considered― especially their high food-to-zoomass conversion efficiency, quick growth rate, enormous variety, and world-wide distribution―their potential as a much more sustainable source of animal protein than conventional livestock would become obvious.