Is eating insects a good way to help the environment?

Question

I've just come accross an article where a group of experts say that eating insects is much better for the environment than eating meat is.

"Raising insects has a low impact on the environment. They require little water, perhaps because they obtain much of their moisture from their food. It takes 869 gallons of water to produce a third of a pound of beef, about enough for a large hamburger. By contrast, to supply water to a quarter pound of crickets, Gracer simply places­ a moist paper towel at the bottom of their tank and refreshes it weekly. Insects, he says, also need less food and space than vertebrate sources of protein and therefore could replace or supplement food resources that may become scarce in the future, such as fish stocks, which a recent study indicates may collapse by 2048."

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/may/07-want-to-help-the-environment-eat-insects

Answer 1

I think it's actually true and yes, it's very gross. If you guys don't know, Chinese ancient medicine/herbs use the big cockroaches as a good treatment because it has a lot of protein, which is exactly why Ancient China was far more advance than Europe in Medical and science long ago. Then again, people think it's very gross, but hey, this is how human beings are. We find better treatment for things and a lot of pills/medicines have insect ingredient in there too.

Answer 2

It would be easier to covert people to vegetarianism, and that alone would increase our food stocks by a large percentage, and reduce a lot of methane emissions from livestock (greenhouse gas).

I suppose some countries would adopt an insect eating policy more easily than others.

Answer 3

Maybe, but I'm still not going to do it.

Answer 4

Yes. Eating 10-15,000 ants per month has been shown to reduce a persons carbon footprint by 23%.