A New Factory in France Will Mass-Produce Bugs as Food

Though the world’s population is no longer predicted to grow as much as we thought by the end of this century, there are still going to be a lot more people on Earth in 30, 50, and 80 years than there are now. And those people are going to need healthy food that comes from a sustainable source. Technologies like cultured meat and fish, vertical farming, and genetic engineering of crops are all working to feed more people while leaving a smaller environmental footprint.
A new facility in northern France aims to help solve the future of food problem in a new, unexpected, and kind of cringe-inducing way: by manufacturing a huge volume of bugs—for eating.
Before you gag and close the page, though, wait; these particular bugs aren’t intended for human consumption, at least not directly.
Our food system and consumption patterns are problematic not just because of the