Entomofagy – A Viable Solution for Supporting Food Security

Abstract

Entomophagy or the practice of eating insects has been known and practiced for millennia by people around the world, and being taken into account in countries where insect consumption is considered to be exotic behavior or the evolution of society begins to impose it. Food security is a prerequisite for the welfare of the population and can be achieved by appropriately capitalizing on the natural resources available to Romania's agriculture. Its approach and development must be in two directions, strongly interrelated with each other, namely a quantitative one and a qualitative one. The quantitative aspect regards as a matter of priority the provision of the necessary amount of food to meet the physiological needs of a reference population, while the quality aspect focuses on the nutritional value of foods consumed by the population so that its health is not affected or compromised. Considering the two above-mentioned aspects, we consider that the practice of consuming edible insects presents several advantages, both quantitative and qualitative, which should not be neglected in ensuring food security. Innovation must be implemented throughout the agri-food chain, and entomophagy can be one of the viable solutions to support food security. In order to emphasize the importance of entomophagy in ensuring food security, the paper brings to the fore a series os aspects regarding the review of the scientific literature in the field, the nutritional value of insects, the impact of insect food production on the environment, and consumer attitudes towards entomophagy. At the end of the paper, a small attempt is made to assess to what extent Romanian consumers are prepared to accept edible insects in their food.

Does it bug you eating bugs? The emotions of anthropoentomophagy

“…These can fight against the negative emotional factors triggered during the confrontation with the product. The suggestion is aligned with Simion et al. (2019), who stated that promoting insect-based food could be carried out by ensuring the consumption of this type of food in a consumer environment (Simion et al.…”

“…The suggestion is aligned with Simion et al. (2019), who stated that promoting insect-based food could be carried out by ensuring the consumption of this type of food in a consumer environment (Simion et al. , 2019).…”

“…These can fight against the negative emotional factors triggered during the confrontation with the product. The suggestion is aligned with Simion et al (2019), who stated that promoting insectbased food could be carried out by ensuring the consumption of this type of food in a consumer environment (Simion et al, 2019). Workshops, the development of recipes and the publication of cooking guides are other strategies the study's results suggest should be considered (Tang et al, 2019).…”

“…To achieve this, insect handling can be carried out using processing or protein extraction technologies that dehydrate, dry or crush the product to transform the physical appearance of the insect-based food (Orkusz et al, 2020;Martins et al, 2022). One of the strategies that can be used to promote and stimulate the acceptance of insect-based foods is their tasting in a consumer environment (Mancini et al, 2019b;Simion et al, 2019). However, consumption can be challenging when consumers know what they are eating.…”

“…Insect-based food meets nutritional needs with quality and promotes environmental and climate sustainability since its production puts less pressure on natural resources and emits fewer greenhouse gases (Wendin and Nyberg, 2021). It requires less land to produce, contributes less to climate change (Simion et al. , 2019) and causes less water pollution (Yazici and Ozer, 2021).…”