Black Soldier Fly: a modern day hero

A black soldier fly in its natural environment

Put simply, the BSF converts everyday food waste into high quality protein that can be fed to chickens or pigs, your dog and cat, or possibly even you. Yuk!

So, why am I venturing into this world when we already have an established food supply chain of global commodity crop production, huge commercial dairy farming and precise, data-driven indoor chicken farming? The problem is that if we don’t change the current ways of producing, distributing and consuming our food, we will run head on into a catastrophe. Let me explain… Global protein demands are increasing as a result of expanding global populations and higher demands for protein per capita in developing nations, whilst we waste a third of all food that is produced. This established food supply chain relies heavily on food to be grown around the world to feed the protein sources such as chicken, pork, fish and beef.

Two of the most plentiful and affordable livestock feed sources are fishmeal and soy. Fishmeal are caught in huge quantities and result in both overfishing and damaging marine ecosystems. Whereas soy production uses a lot of land and is the cause for a lot of deforestation in South America.

Global soy production has exploded.

Global production today is more than 13 times higher than it was in the early 1960s. Since the year 2000, production has more than doubled.

Now, let me explain how BSF can be part of the answer.

1. BSF are resource efficient. We need more land and resources to feed a growing population who are eating more per person. BSF use a fraction of the land when compared to other protein sources. They can even be grown vertically, stacked in boxes. What's more, the carbon footprint and water usage for BSF farming is significantly lower, helping consumers reduce their overall resource footprint and allowing for more food to be produced on less land.

2. BSF will eat our food waste. 33% of global food is wasted and less than 10% of this is recycled. This leads to 3.6m tonnes of food wasted in the UK every year. As mentioned above, BSF efficiently convert food waste into a highly nutritious protein, so they can be used to reduce all the waste needlessly going to landfill. Circularity in motion.

3. The question of food security - Why import when you can produce domestically? Global events, such as Putin's war and the pandemic, whilst crippling inflation caused by just-in-time global logistics... Cracks are showing in our food system and governments are panicking, wondering where they will secure their own food for the future. BSF can be farmed and distributed all locally, using no inputs from far-away lands and securing our food for the future in the process.

4. Nutrition needs to be addressed. BSF protein produced is of the highest quality - think about the amount of times it's bailed Bear Grylls out of a sticky situation… It contains all the essential amino acids, a high level of digestible protein and is also high in vitamins and minerals such as calcium. For pets, it can be described as hypoallergenic. For laying hens, it has proven to improve the egg shells, leading to less damages and also the general health of the hen, resulting in a happier hen.

Happy hens running for their larvae-lunch

5. Soil health to feed our crops. The two products of the production process are the insects themselves and their poop, known in the industry as frass. The frass can be used as a natural plant fertiliser with incredible soil amendment properties. It has a similar NPK ratio to chicken manure, with high levels of trace elements like calcium and magnesium. The frass contains a secret weapon called chitin. Chitin is also found in shellfish and fungi and is a natural pesticide and bio-fungicide. Chitin-based products like frass can help protect plants from pests and diseases, reducing the need for synthetic fertilisers. What I am trying to say is, put frass on your plants and they will end up on the moon they will grow that big (disclaimer: they won’t).

Name a process that you have come across that ticks this many boxes - I’ll listen to anyone who has. Black solider fly farming produces more food, using less resources, whilst providing security and nutrition at the same time. Perhaps in 20 years time we will look back and see BSFs flying around with a red cape, saving our world.