Arnold van Huis is a Professor of Tropical Entomology

Entomology

Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...

 at Wageningen University

Wageningen University

Wageningen University and Research Centre is a Dutch public university in Wageningen, The Netherlands. It consists of Wageningen University, the Van Hall-Larenstein School of Higher Professional Education, and the former agricultural research institutes of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture...

 in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

.

Van Huis also researches and advocates entomophagy

Entomophagy

Entomophagy is the consumption of insects as food. Insects are eaten by many animals, but the term is generally used to refer to human consumption of insects; animals that eat insects are known as insectivores...

, the human consumption of insects, and coordinates the research program "Sustainable production of Insect Proteins for human consumption" (SUPRO2). The program investigates the nutritive

Nutrition

Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....

 and environmental

Environment (biophysical)

The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...

 aspects of entomophagy, and harvesting of weaver ants, is studied.

In the 2010 French documentary Global Steak

Global Steak

Global Steak: Demain nos enfants mangeront des criquets is a 2010 French documentary film directed by Anthony Orliange.- Plot :The film explores the problem of human meat consumption and suggests that the increasing demand of meat in the world could lead to a catastrophe.- Entomophagy section...

he says that locust

Locust

Locusts are the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory...

s can produce 1 kg protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 from 2 kg fodder

Fodder

Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...

 compared to a cow needing 10 kg fodder to produce the same amount of protein. Other benefits are that locusts do not produce greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gas

A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...

es and do not need antibiotics.

External links

• Arnold van Huis at Wageningen University