ENTOLAB-loppuseminaari: hyönteiskasvatuksen edistäminen Etelä-Pohjanmaalla 4.12.18 Seinäjoki

1. Sustainability of insect
rearing and insect-based
food: the Nordic
perspective
Afton Halloran, PhD
Freelance Consultant in Sustainable Food Systems Transitions
aftonhalloran@gmail.com
@aftonhalloran
www.sustainablefoodsystems.blog

2. Background
 PhD in International and
Pediatric Nutrition with a
specialization in Sustainable
Food Systems
 MSc in Agricultural
Development at the University
of Copenhagen with a
specialization in urban
agriculture
 BSc (honours) in Global
Resource Systems from the
University of British Columbia

3. The Challenge
and the
opportunity of
addressing the
SDGs lies in
the food
system

4. Climate change:
a global plea for
a major protein
shift

5. The Great Global Nutrition Transition
 Pattern 1 Hunter Gatherer: Individuals live highly active lifestyles, hunting
and foraging for food. Diets typically are rich in fibrous plants and high in
protein from lean wild animals.
 Pattern 2 Early Agriculture: Famine is common, slowing individuals growth
and decreasing their body fat.
 Pattern 3 End of Famine: Famine recedes as income rises and nutrition
improves.
 Pattern 4 Overeating, Obesity-Related Diseases: As income continues to
rise, individuals have access to an abundance of high-calorie foods, and they
become less active, leading to increases in obesity and obesity-related
chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.
 Pattern 5 Behaviour Change: In response to increasing rates of obesity and
obesity-related chronic diseases, individuals change their behaviour and
communities promote behaviour changes to prevent these conditions.

6. FAOSTAT, 2018

8. Relevant results
 Replacing animal-source foods with plant-based ones is
effective in high-income countries for improving nutrient levels,
lowering premature mortality and GHG emissions
 Mortality: Reduction of up to 12% with complete replacement
 GHG emissions: Reductions of up to 84%
 Energy-balanced, low-meat dietary patterns can markedly
reduced environmental impacts globally (reducing greenhouse
gas emissions by 54–87%, nitrogen application by 23–25%,
phosphorus application by 18–21%, cropland use by 8–11%, and
freshwater use by 2–11%)
 Update national dietary guidelines to reflect reality

11. Are livestock to blame?
Mottet and Steinfeld, 2018

13. What are our options?

14. Possible alternatives to meat
WEF, 2018

16. Life cycle assessment
 Technique assessing environmental impacts associated with
all the stages of a product's life
 Comparability established through functional unit (e.g. 1 kg
of product)

17. Aim: To review studies on the life cycle assessment of edible insect production
systems and to develop a reference framework for future life cycle assessments on
edible insects

18. Methodology
 A total of six peer-reviewed LCA studies were included in the review
 Including insect production for food and feed
 Analysis of different stages of insect production
 What should we take into consideration?
 Development of recommendations for future LCAs

19. Towards future LCAs of insect production
 Stages of insect production reviewed and discussed
 Construction of facilities, feed, production, transport, processing and storage, waste
management and recycling
 Reference framework
 Clear definition insect species and life stages
 Use of at least two functional units
 Collection of empirical data on commercial farms
 Comparisons made between similar products or between different scales and
geographical locations
 Inclusion of more unit processes (e.g. processing and storage)
 Inclusion of a wide range of impact categories

20. Aim: To perform a life cycle assessment of cricket farming in north-eastern
Thailand in relation to broiler chicken farming

21. Methodology
 Data collected on 10 cricket farms + 3 broiler farms
 Only one farm from each category chosen for the LCA
 Functional units
 1 kg of edible mass
 Cricket = 100% edible
 Broiler = 58% edible
 1 kg of protein in edible mass
 Cricket = 63% (Acheta domesticus) and 56% (Gryllus bimaculatus) in EM (DW)
 Broilers = 63% protein in EM (DW)
 15 impact categories used (ILCD method)
 Three scenarios
 Current cricket farm
 Future cricket farm
 Current broiler farm

22. Current cricket farm scenario
17/12/2018 22

23. Future cricket farm scenario
17/12/2018

24. Systems boundaries
17/12/2018

25. Broiler farm scenario
17/12/2018

26. Systems boundaries
17/12/2018

27. Results
 Broiler production was associated with highest
environmental impacts
 Current cricket scenario –>Future cricket
scenario = lower impacts
 Crickets and broilers consume the same feed
 Main feed ingredients = Maize meal (51%), soybean
meal (28%), rice bran (9%) and fishmeal (5%)
 Efficiency of feed conversion ratio
 FCR in current cricket scenario = 2.50
 FCR in future cricket scenario = 1.47
 FCR in future cricket scenario = 1.83

28. Further reading

29. Questions?
E-mail: aftonhalloran@gmail.com
Twitter: @AftonHalloran
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aftonhalloran/