This chapter reviews and provides an accessible synthesis of the literature surrounding the potential of insects to alleviate food security while promoting food sovereignty and integrating social acceptability. In many regions that have traditionally eaten insects, the practice is declining due to globalisation, and their consumption has decreased over the last decade as agriculture and living standards change, and the availability of wild-caught insects has decreased. Although human insectivory is an ancient practice and 80% of the world’s population consumes insects, it is relatively uncommon in contemporary Western culture.
The most common edible insects are moths, cicadas, beetles, mealworms, flies, grasshoppers and ants. It has become so popular that >150 species are sold in the markets of Bangkok. In Thailand, entomophagy has spread to the south from the north-east as people migrate towards city centres. Africa, where more than 500 species are consumed daily, is a hotspot of edible insect biodiversity. Entomophagy is prevalent in many regions, and ~1500–2000 species of insects and other invertebrates are consumed by 3000 ethnic groups across 113 countries in Asia, Australia and Central and South America.
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