Entomeals

Abstract

The world population is growing rapidly and guaranteeing future food security is going to be one of the challenges of the future. Current food sources that provide a complete amino acid profile include meat and various meat-products. However, these often have a high negative impact on the environment and cost a lot of resources to produce. We need alternative protein-sources to make sure future generations will have sufficient high-quality protein, while producing these in a sustainable and responsible way. Edible insects prove to be one of the very promising, healthy and sustainable sources of protein for the future. This report contains research on edible insects and their acceptance and rejection of people in The Netherlands. It explains why Dutch consumers are not eating insects on a regular basis and what causes its rejection. It presents various concepts to assist the acceptance of this novel food source and presents Entomeals. Entomeals is an insect cooking kit which enables users to experiment with edible insects, in an easy, safe and familiar way. It consists out of a do-it-yourself cooking package, combined with a dedicated insect grinder and community-based communication strategy. Lowering barriers and enabling users to cook with edible insects will pave the way towards a more sustainable diet.