Government and industry investment plays crucial role in further establishment, evolution, and diversification of insect agriculture: a case example from the United States

Abstract

Insect farming for both food and feed has become an established part of agriculture globally in response to demand for protein and a commitment to more sustainable agricultural practices. Large international companies are diversifying to capture this opportunity, and start-up companies are rapidly developing to meet the increasing demand. In response, research within universities and companies is promptly expanding, resulting in challenges faced by all -industry, academia, and regulatory bodies. How does one keep up with the massive amount of information being generated annually? How can such entities collaborate to prevent redundancy and increase efficiency while identifying knowledge gaps and avoiding pitfalls known and unknown?

Edible insects: Challenges and prospects

“…Academics provided information for insect production, processing, food safety and marketing, both used by the industry and by government organization dealing with legislation. In development projects often industry and the academic world cooperate such as in the EU project SUStainable INsect CHAIN (SUSINCHAIN) (Veldkamp et al 2020) or in the USA where a Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming (CEIF) has been created (Tomberlin et al 2022). Several countries have produced roadmaps for the edible insect industry: Australia (Ponce-Reyes & Lessard 2021), The Netherlands (Venik 2020), and the United Kingdom (WWF 2021).…”

“…2020) or in the USA where a Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming (CEIF) has been created (Tomberlin et al . 2022). Several countries have produced roadmaps for the edible insect industry: Australia (Ponce‐Reyes & Lessard 2021), The Netherlands (Venik 2020), and the United Kingdom (WWF 2021).…”

No neonates without adults

“…Now recognized as the "crown jewel" of the insects as feed industry [90] for being able to potentially address looming food, environmental, and humanitarian crises by up-cycling wastes, [97,[99][100][101][102] researchers, corporate investors, and governments have mobilized to inject capital and adopt new regulatory frameworks [15] such that the outlook of the rapidly growing industry scantly resembles what it did just 5 years ago, with many of the bottlenecks to industrial growth that were present in 2015 [10] having now been considerably widened.…”

“…Little is understood as it pertains to the components of basic biology that produce variability in fertile egg output that commonly occurs within H. illucens colony cages. [10][11][12][13][14] Hence, to bridge a chasm that affects a global community comprising research, industrial, and governmental bodies, [15] this review synthesizes what is currently known of adult H. illucens, with special attention given to the species' morphology, physiology, biogeographic patterns, molecular genomics, and behavioral ecology.…”

“…illucens colony cages. [ 10–14 ] Hence, to bridge a chasm that affects a global community comprising research, industrial, and governmental bodies, [ 15 ] this review synthesizes what is currently known of adult H . illucens , with special attention given to the species’ morphology, physiology, biogeographic patterns, molecular genomics, and behavioral ecology.…”