Quickly brushed off as too challenging for hesitant buyers, Australia’s insect sector aims to become the country’s leading force in agriculture.
While it delves into the application of insects for purposes ranging from feeding humans to serving as pet food and managing waste recycling, the sector acknowledges several significant hurdles remain.
This aims to assist individuals involved in a $2 million research initiative headed by the University of Adelaide. The project seeks to aid in formulating food standards, exploring market possibilities, and promoting public education.
Still early days
Professor Kerry Wilkinson from the university's School of Agriculture, Food and Wine highlighted that one of the main obstacles to the sector's development in Australia include public opinion and the absence of established guidelines and regulations.
"It’s a developing sector…still quite nascent but undeniably expanding and making significant strides, largely due to the incredible possibilities that insects present," according to Professor Wilkinson.
They can be employed to tackle issues with food waste, however, these insects also serve as an exceptionally valuable and nutrient-rich protein source.
Convincing folks to embrace eating insects might be quite challenging at first, yet certain species hold significant promise in this regard.
Exploring insect potential
Dr. Wilkinson's investigation started over ten years back with an emphasis on using mealworms and crickets for nutrition, yet it has broadened to encompass numerous possible applications.
"There’s an extensive array of applications, and as a researcher, I find it truly thrilling to witness the myriad ways insects can be utilized—for instance, in producing biofuels and pharmaceuticals," she stated.
The possibility exists for using these insects in pet food, and our findings indicate that many dog owners feel more at ease with the concept of giving insect-derived pet food rather than plant-based alternatives to their pets.
Backed by AgriFutures Australia, Professor Wilkinson has put together a national research team to address the issue of "social license," along with challenges such as biosecurity and food safety.
“When farmers raise livestock, be it for human consumption or other purposes, numerous regulations are already established,” she explained. “We aim to ensure that the insect farming sector is safeguarded with comparable standards.”
In South Australia’s Coonawarra region, wine proprietor Luke Tocaciu has been providing an "Insects and Wine" edible bug and cabernet tasting for the past year.
He said many visitors to the cellar door had been open to trying edible insects for the first time.
"There have been many varied responses. Folks are astonished to find out they're delicious," Mr Tocaciu stated.
The company decided to provide tasting sessions thanks to the eco-friendly nature of consuming insects.
He mentioned that generating these insects requires minimal energy and they are quite rich in protein.
This is truly an innovative area [and] I believe it will become an expanding sector in Australia.
Turning waste into feed
Olympia Yarger leads GoTerra, an Australian firm that has created a system employing maggots for this purpose. convert agricultural and food retail leftovers into livestock feed .
She mentioned that insects represent one of the most thrilling prospects for Australian agriculture nowadays.
"Despite being a relatively new sector, our industry heavily depends on imported feed materials from overseas to generate local products. This reliance poses challenges for both sustainability and national autonomy," Ms Yarger stated.
Any method we can use to generate feed components in Australia without straining our current supply chain would be completely beneficial.
It's essential to invest additional effort and resources into such inputs as doing so will help lower expenses for farmers.
We can also develop a far more stable food security strategy for Australia going forwards.
