{"id":37194,"date":"2021-04-29T10:37:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T01:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aumanufacturing.com.au\/?p=37194"},"modified":"2021-04-29T10:37:41","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T01:07:41","slug":"4-reasons-insects-could-be-a-staple-in-aussie-diets-from-zesty-tree-ants-to-peanut-buttery-bogong-moths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aumanufacturing.com.au\/4-reasons-insects-could-be-a-staple-in-aussie-diets-from-zesty-tree-ants-to-peanut-buttery-bogong-moths","title":{"rendered":"4 reasons insects could be a staple in Aussie diets, from zesty tree ants to peanut-buttery bogong moths"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bryan Lessard<\/a>, CSIRO<\/a> and Rocio Ponce-Reyes<\/a>, CSIRO<\/a><\/p>\n

With the global population predicted to reach 9.7 billion by 2050<\/a>, one of the biggest challenges<\/a> in our lifetimes will be securing enough food for everyone.<\/p>\n

We have only finite land and water resources, and climate change, environmentally harmful practises and emerging diseases<\/a> threaten supply chains.<\/p>

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One way to deal with this is to turn to our insect friends. But don\u2019t baulk \u2014 more than two billion people from 130 countries already eat insects<\/a>. Many Australians already do, too, in the form of natural red food colouring made from the cochineal bug<\/a>, or the 5% of peanut butter<\/a> that\u2019s legally allowed to contain insect fragments.<\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019ve taken a leap towards bringing insects into mainstream Australian diets, with the launch of CSIRO\u2019s Edible Insects Industry Roadmap<\/a>. It carves out a comprehensive plan exploring the challenges and opportunities for Australia to become a player in a global industry worth A$1.4 billion by 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The roadmap provides a handy framework for anyone interested in getting a slice of the cricket pie, including new insect start-ups, farmers, food producers, researchers, policy makers and First Nations enterprises. To unlock the farming potential of Australia\u2019s native insect species, we need to form new collaborations, co-develop First Nations-owned initiatives, and conduct more research.<\/p>

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