Climate change, food production, and human health share a vicious relationship; food production contributes to climate change which endangers human health, while exacerbating food insecurity in many parts of the world and directly contributing to the spread of infectious diseases [1]. As the global population continues to increase, expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 [2], the impacts of the meat industry pose a growing threat to our natural environment as well as food security. Meat production comes with a host of serious repercussions such as acid rain, climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, loss of plant biodiversity, and water pollution [3,4]. With global meat consumption forecasted to increase by 75% from 2017 to 2050, when 465 million tonnes of meat are predicted to be consumed annually [4,5], developing alternative protein sources is crucial for a future of food production that is sustainable and secure [4,6,7].

Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects as food, has recently been receiving more widespread recognition along with growing public interest in adopting more sustainable diets [8]. Entomophagy is not a recent concept; for millennia, a variety of insects have been a part of people’s regular diets as a food naturally high in protein and micronutrients [9]. In Asia, Africa, and Latin America, over two billion people consume insects regularly [10], with approximately 2000 species recorded to have been consumed globally [11]. For example, up to 50% of dietary protein consumed in Central Africa is sourced from insects; similarly, an increasing demand for edible insects in Thailand has led to an industrial shift from collection from the wild to construction of mass-rearing facilities [9].

Although meat consumption in developing countries has been increasing fast, per capita meat consumption in developed countries is much higher, especially in North America (see Figure 6.6 in [12]). However, Western countries have been largely reluctant to adopt edible insects as human food. Insects are commonly associated with uncleanliness in many Western cultures, and most consumers are opposed to their consumption [13]. Such preconceptions are implanted through food neophobia, i.e., the fear of eating unfamiliar foods, and a culture that views insects as pests and a marker of filth when associated with food. Additionally, while there is some research on profiling consumers that are more accepting of entomophagy in European countries such as Belgium, Italy, and Portugal [14,15,16,17,18], there is limited research involving controlled experiments testing interventions to improve consumers’ attitude towards entomophagy.

With more than two billion people worldwide that are malnourished, global hunger is a serious challenge that is expected to worsen as population growth coupled with climate change undermine the planet’s ability to fulfil the nutritional needs of the human population [29]. Furthermore, protein deficiency is a longstanding issue that disproportionately affects low-income people worldwide [8]. Entomophagy could be a potential component of the planet’s strategy to resolving the global climate crisis.

While nutritional composition varies by insect species, data from 236 edible insect species demonstrated that they sufficiently fulfil humans’ requirements for energy, protein, amino acids, lipids, and several minerals and vitamins; in particular, insects contain a high iron and zinc content compared to ruminant meats, especially valuable in improving the issue of malnutrition in developing countries, which experience significant levels of zinc and iron deficiencies [11,30,31].

In comparison to Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) such as milk powder that must be imported and is rarely locally available in malnourished communities, insects can be reared directly at the country where relief is needed. Particularly in regions where cultivation of vertebrate livestock is infeasible or unaffordable, edible insects are less resource-intensive and more resistant to drought and disease than more traditional livestock [8]. Consequently, entomophagy presents both a low-cost and efficient method of improving livelihoods and regular diets among vulnerable people [11]. There is precedent of substantial production systems used to produce insects for biological control, the technology of which could be applied to develop systems to produce edible insects on a large scale without much difficulty [32].

However, consumers in Western societies are generally detached from the immediate and severe need for nutritional security in other parts of the world. More than seven times the grain directly eaten by the entire U.S. population is used as feed for livestock just in America [33]. By 1997, 85% of the world’s grain supply was being produced and imported for livestock feed in industrialised nations [34]. It is unrealistic to assume that food insecurity in less-developed countries is simply a distribution problem [7]. If we do not alter our food choices and choose to continue to ingest meat at the current rate, by 2050 we will need to have increased meat production by 73% to feed the potential population of 9.7 billion, an impossibly dangerous feat considering the environmental consequences [29]. Appealing to Western consumers’ environmental consciousness and improving their awareness of the potential for entomophagy may be an effective strategy to sensitise the benefits of eating insects as a substitute for meat, providing a direct and personal connection between consumer action and environmental impact through food choices.