Insect farming booming in Japan

[thomas]

The number of Japanese companies entering insect farming is increasing as more and more people become aware of the advantages: insects are a sustainable food source. They have a minimal ecological impact on the environment. Traditionally, insects have been eaten in Japan's landlocked or mountainous prefectures like Nagano and Fukushima as tsukudani (佃煮), boiled in soy sauce and sugar, in particular locusts (inago) and bee larvae (hachinoko).

"As far as I know, at least 26 corporations, including those scheduled to start culturing from now, are working in the cricket market," said Mitsuhashi. "In addition, several other firms are engaging in the farming of housefly larvae and silkworms." Takeo began selling domestically raised insects in 2019 and bug products from nine farmers are now available at the store. It also started farming migratory locusts on its own in 2019 and started a joint research program with Hirosaki University in 2020. [...] Crickets are a major bug species cultivated in Japan. Farmers deliver their products frozen so retailers can boil and dry them to sell them as snacks. Insect producers at times do all the processing on their own, from drying to crushing, so they can use them as raw materials for snacks of their brands. [...] "Insects are not things to be consumed by only a certain group of people but a new protein source friendlier to the environment," said Watanabe. "Using domestically produced food that would otherwise be discarded for feed is significant because it will create a new cycle (of reuse)."

Insect farming is booming amid demand for more sustainable food | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

I wonder if insects are considered vegan?

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I think I'll stick to a good steak.

 

[thomas]

I think I'll stick to a good steak.

Food for thought:

Five ways the meat on your plate is killing the planet

Eat less meat, save the world

theconversation.com

How livestock farming affects the environment

The conversion of forests into agricultural land and livestock ranches is one of the major causes of deforestation...

www.downtoearth.org.in

Meat (the way we produce and consume it today) is just not sustainable.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

If meat ever runs out , I have about 15 very fat squirrels I feed everyday , LOL. I've been feeding them for about 30 years now.

 

[johnnyG]

I have about 15 very fat squirrels I feed everyday , LOL.

Someone from Indiana may try to contact you...

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I feed the animals now out of guilt. I started going to hunting & fishing camp when I was 5. At 7 , I was the one who shot squirrels & partridge and rabbits for the grownups to make baked beans or stew. It was also my job to shoot critters that would do damage around camp by chewing on things. Over the years , I must have shot hundreds of animals and now feel real guilty and bad about all the killing. Feeding the animals and birds now helps ease the guilt a bit.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

I have looked at the record picture that edible ants were exported to the United States in the 1950s by Japan.

確かに、蟻も悪くない | 国立民族学博物館

日本人は今ではあまり虫を食べないが、以前は日本でも世界でもいろいろな虫を食べてきたようだ。私も蜂の子煮は食べたことがある。 ウィキペディアで「昆虫食」の項をざっと見ても、蚕の蛹（さなぎ）、イナゴその他たくさんの虫が盛んに食べられていたと分かる。傑作なのは、アカヤマアリを揚げて塩をかけチョコでくるんだチョコアンリなるものが、1950年代の日本で製造されアメリカに輸出されていたという記事である。...

older.minpaku.ac.jp

 

[thomas]

Here's another piece on Japan's growing insect market: according to insect vendors, this is because of the numerous nutritional and environmental benefits of this form of protein. In 2019, Takahito Watanabe, a professor of developmental biology at Tokushima University, established Gryllus Co., a food technology company, to raise crickets and develop them into a food source.

"Crickets have long been eaten in Japan, and we see them as potentially an important and useful resource," Fumiya Aokubu, a spokesman for the company, told DW. "Raising crickets is environment-friendly. It requires very little land, water or feedstock, while the food conversion rate is far superior to livestock such as pigs, beef cattle or chickens." [...] The research has so far determined that crickets are high in calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, vitamins and dietary fiber. Additionally, crickets can be processed into cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, as well as fertilizers.

Take-Noko restaurant in Tokyo is witnessing a growing interest in insects as a food source and holds regular food tasting events. Crickets and grasshoppers are the most familiar to the Japanese; however, silkworms, wasp larvae and spiders are popular, too. Other companies explore the possibilities of insect-based food products: Bakery Pasco initially began selling home-baking kits with flour made from ground crickets and now produces a range of foods that incorporate silkworms.

Why are bugs becoming big business in Japan?

Bugs have long been consumed in Japan, but now the market is growing. Insect vendors say this is because of the numerous nutritional and environmental benefits of this form of protein.

www.dw.com

I guess it's just a question of time until we'll all be bitten by the bug.

Links:

浅草の昆虫食カフェ｜昆虫食TAKEO 浅草本店のご案内 | 昆虫食TAKEO｜通販から実店舗、製造、養殖、研究まで

浅草観光の穴場スポット、昆虫食専門店TAKEOの実店舗。築60年の古民家を活かした和の空間で、買い物・カフェ・情報収集が一度に楽しめる隠れ家的な、いきもの体験型スポットです。昆虫食メニューのほか、昆虫を使わない軽食やドリンクもご用意。食べるのが不安な方も、見るだけ・話すだけでも大歓迎です。

takeo.tokyo

目がイってるだけの普通の女.inc

gryllus.jp

Pasco　｜　超熟のPasco　｜　敷島製パン株式会社

「超熟のPasco」、敷島製パンのホームページ。食パン、ロールパン、マフィン、ベーグル、菓子パンなどの商品を紹介。その他、豊富なパンレシピや食育情報も。

www.pasconet.co.jp

 

[salyavin]

I have seen the sushi boom in the west, now a ramen boom. Maybe I'll live long enough to see a bug boom

 

[mdchachi]

I have seen the sushi boom in the west, now a ramen boom. Maybe I'll live long enough to see a bug boom

 

[thomas]

I have seen the sushi boom in the west, now a ramen boom. Maybe I'll live long enough to see a bug boom

One day, we might see e-cars, e-cigarettes, silkworm burgers, sugar-free coke.... oh wait...

 

[Lothor]

I feed the animals now out of guilt. I started going to hunting & fishing camp when I was 5. At 7 , I was the one who shot squirrels & partridge and rabbits for the grownups to make baked beans or stew. It was also my job to shoot critters that would do damage around camp by chewing on things. Over the years , I must have shot hundreds of animals and now feel real guilty and bad about all the killing. Feeding the animals and birds now helps ease the guilt a bit.

Frank - Many people, including me, would consider shooting free-range animals that die instantly to be less of a sin than eating intensively farmed animals that have endured a brutal life.

Thomas - I don't think they can be classed as vegan, but people with similar values may be happy eating them because of their relatively low environmental impact and their low position in the food chain.