Before humanity is forced to eat cockroaches, we’re asking why
“Is there really nothing else to eat in this world?” “Snowpiercer was way ahead of its time!” Just yesterday, these were the existential questions being asked by netizens after seeing a reporter visiting an American cockroach farm drink a cup of ‘cockroach crunchy coffee’.
Imagine that, besides the American cockroach, there are countless mealworms and black soldier flies in this world, wriggling and growing frantically even while humans sleep peacefully, all for the day they might arrive on your dinner table. It naturally brings to mind the doomsday food—insect protein blocks—specifically fed to the lower class in the film *Snowpiercer*.
So, what is this reason? Do we really have to accept it? Will insects truly make a large-scale landing on our dinner tables in the future?
I. Insect Protein: A Noble Vision
Today, the purpose of the new large-scale insect farming industry is more about extracting animal protein from the insects. This changes the nature of “insect-eating”; it is no longer a dietary habit evolved naturally in a specific region, but a human arrangement.
In truth, the term “insect protein” is confusing at first—after all, no one calls beef “mammalian protein”. Yet it is a precise term, as it refers generically to insect powder processed from edible insects. The raw materials could be mealworms or black soldier flies, produced either by simple drying and grinding or through complex enzymatic hydrolysis.
So, for what purpose are some people producing insect protein on a massive scale?
The answer can be traced back to a 2013 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations: *Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security*. Since then, the various benefits of insect protein have been repeated constantly, which can be summarised as follows:
1. As global climate and resource crises intensify, compared to traditional protein sources such as soy, fishmeal, beef, and mutton, insect farming consumes less water and arable land, and greenhouse gas emissions are far lower than those of livestock farming;
2. Insects can produce high-quality protein by consuming food waste and livestock manure;
3. Based on these two assumptions of sustainability, in a future where ecological crisis coincides with population growth, insect protein is seen as an effective means of solving the food crisis and global hunger.
However, the real reason—one not placed on the table by the UN, but which has made the industry flock to this track—is the long-standing dilemma of industrial livestock farming: feed shortages and high price volatility. Traditional feeds such as maize, soy, wheat, and fishmeal are the material foundation upon which livestock farming develops, accounting for approximately 60%–70% of the total cost of raising livestock and poultry; their primary nutritional component is protein.
But in recent years, influenced by the interplay of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitics, and extreme weather, and with unstable international supply chains, the price of soybean meal has remained high. In 2022, in particular, the price of soybean meal rose from 3,580 yuan/tonne to 5,630 yuan/tonne. Under these circumstances, many countries, including China, are striving to find more stable sources of feed protein. It is said that insect farming, which can save arable land, has become a primary method for countries exploring feed alternatives.
Industry research shows that the global insect protein market size reached 145 million USD in 2019 and is expected to grow to 366 million USD by 2023. China has even written “expanding the production capacity of insect protein feed” into the action goals of its *Implementation Plan for Grain Saving in the Livestock Industry*. According to industry insiders, the export market for Chinese insect protein in 2025 is very strong, primarily in the feed category.
Insect farming is nothing new; at least since 2001, research into the artificial breeding of mealworms has begun in China. However, around the time the FAO released its report in 2013, various forms of capital began racing to enter this emerging insect protein industry.
According to incomplete statistics, as of 2022, 13 active insect protein companies in the market, including Chinese firms such as Nature Create and Blue Protein, have raised a cumulative total of over 6 billion yuan.
II. The Bankruptcy of Ÿnsect and the Capitalist Fantasy of Food and Agriculture
In reality, many companies in the alternative protein sector are mired in losses. In the plant-based meat market—the predecessor to insect protein—Beyond Meat, the first major public listing in the sector that once vowed to replace all meat, is now on the brink of bankruptcy. Even Impossible Foods, under revenue pressure, once publicly stated that it was considering adding real animal meat to its plant-based products. From an economic perspective, whether considering growth trends or market demand, the prospect of steady profitability for alternative proteins remains bleak.
Perhaps having learned from the failures of plant-based meat, the insect protein industry has primarily targeted the animal feed market.
Only a few bold ventures have launched products like cricket biscuits or insect meatballs—products based on the assumption that the average consumer is as adventurous as Bear Grylls. The market response to these is easy to imagine.
However, the path into animal feed is equally treacherous. Ÿnsect’s former slogan was “Reinventing the food chain for a more sustainable global food system”. This vision sounds idealistic, but the very thing that dragged the company down was the fact that its actual operations ran contrary to the principles of sustainability.
The first fact is that, in an idealised version of insect farming, insects are fed food waste or animal manure. In reality, however, due to the risk of mad cow disease, Europe has only permitted the use of plant-based or non-ruminant animal feed for insects since 2018. This effectively blocked the use of food waste, and feeding on animal manure has proven fraught with difficulty; as a result, Ÿnsect still had to rely on feed such as soybean meal to raise its insects.
It is profoundly ironic: insect protein is itself intended as an animal feed product, yet the supply of feed for industrial-scale insect farming depends on the same grains that could be fed directly to livestock. When discussing the reasons for Ÿnsect’s failure in the animal feed market, the tech media outlet TechCrunch questioned whether this meant “insect protein is simply adding an expensive extra step”.
In a bid for survival, Ÿnsect attempted to pivot to the higher-margin pet food market, but failed. The company had already invested hundreds of millions of dollars into building “the world’s most expensive insect farm”, and its heavy debts could not wait for a new business line to grow and provide a return.
This is the second fact that contradicts sustainability: large-scale insect farming is heavily dependent on industrial and automated equipment. The initial investment costs are far higher than those for traditional feed, which served as the second reason for its failure to compete in the animal feed market.
III. Bursting the Low-Carbon Myth of Insect Protein
Of course, words alone are not enough; such claims must be backed by scientific data to be convincing. Mainstream research suggests that insect protein has strong environmental credentials. A report on edible insects published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) mentioned that greenhouse gas emissions from insect farming are only one-tenth of those from livestock farming.
Other studies have provided more specific data: some indicate that for every tonne of organic waste consumed by Black Soldier Flies, approximately 233kg of organic fertiliser and 67kg of insect protein are obtained, achieving a total carbon reduction of 55.69kg. A 2023 literature review stated that the greenhouse gas emissions for every kilogram of fresh insect meat range from 0.3 to 3kg of CO2 equivalents, far lower than those for poultry (5.97kg), pigs (6.95kg), and cattle (35kg).
Concerningly, a closer look at the background of these studies reveals the fingerprints of capital. Either the research body is a food company, or the researchers are employed by companies producing insect-based pet food.
Fortunately, government agricultural departments are also deeply concerned with this issue, as agriculture is on the front line of the severe consequences of global warming. A research project commissioned by the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), titled “Life cycle assessment of insect protein production processes in the UK: pig and poultry feed”, compared the overall environmental impact of using Black Soldier Fly larvae powder (hereafter “insect powder”), soybean meal, and fish meal as feed. The insect powder was subdivided into three categories based on feed material: traditional feed, poultry manure, and food waste.
The results were completely opposite: the climate change impact value for every kilogram of insect powder was 12.9–30.1kg of CO2 equivalents. In other words, producing 1kg of insect powder requires emitting approximately 12.9–30.1kg of CO2 equivalents into the atmosphere.
The reason for such vast discrepancies between research results is that academia has yet to establish a unified standard for measuring climate change impact. Data available through existing technology is limited and insufficient, and it is often constrained by research funding and regional factors. The “climate change impact value” in the UK report did not only count greenhouse gas emissions but also incorporated factors such as acidification, water consumption, land use, and marine and freshwater eutrophication, converting them all into “CO2 equivalents”, which naturally led to a different conclusion.
Overall, insect meal fed on food waste (FW) has the lowest climate change impact of the three types, with emissions of 12.9kg per kilogram of FW meal produced. This is followed by poultry manure-fed meal (CM) at 16.0kg, while traditional feed-fed meal (TF) reaches as high as 30.1kg. Furthermore, all are significantly higher than the emissions for soybean meal (2.23) and fish meal (7.98) — roughly 5.7 to 13.5 times that of soybean meal and 1.8 to 4.2 times that of fish meal.
More specifically, these numerical disparities can be traced back to the production and processing stages of insect protein. Many instinctively assume that insect farming is a “natural” process, unaware that it is actually driven by high-tech industrialisation. Large-scale insect farms are not merely stacks of wooden breeding boxes, but arrays of metallic, automated farming equipment. Compared to warm-blooded animals like chickens or ducks, insects are far more sensitive to environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and bacteria; since their growth is measured in weeks, the environment must be kept stable 24/7, with temperature and humidity adjusted constantly based on the larvae’s age.
According to an executive from a domestic insect protein company, equipment for every farm must be customised because each insect species has different environmental requirements. In these farms, the insect density is hundreds of times higher than in the wild; in such cramped conditions, insects not only consume vast amounts of oxygen and emit exhaust gases through respiration, but also generate significant heat, excrement, and water vapour. While flowing air, loose soil, and rainwater maintain a dynamic equilibrium in nature, farms must rely on air conditioning for temperature control (for instance, Black Soldier Flies only feed between 25-35°C), ventilation systems for air exchange, and machinery or manual labour to regularly collect waste and clean the breeding boxes. His team invested considerable effort into modifying the ductwork of the ventilation system and adjusting the positioning of larvae of different ages to maintain an optimal environment and reduce electricity costs.
This explains why, in the UK report, the carbon emissions of insect meal far exceed those of soybean meal and fish meal.
Given that differences in the production stage play such a decisive role in environmental impact, the UK Department of Agriculture used simulations to modify certain production steps to determine whether insect meal has the potential to help decarbonise the UK livestock industry in the future. This included replacing traditional energy with nuclear power, switching petrol vehicles to electric, and filtering and recirculating all water within the system. After these adjustments, the carbon emissions of insect meal could potentially fall below those of soybean meal and fish meal, suggesting that insect meal does indeed possess environmental potential.
In China, the practical obstacle to food waste-fed insects is that food waste is currently processed primarily through incineration. An executive from a leading domestic insect protein company stated that although his company is a market leader, its scale is still too small compared to incineration plants, and waste management companies prefer to deal with the latter. In other words, the ideal circular model for insect protein is fraught with difficulties in reality.
It is evident that whether research is funded by insect protein companies or governments, none have completed the collection of first-hand data on climate change impact indicators across the entire chain. Setting aside the influence of vested interests (which cannot be ignored), the conclusions drawn from insect protein research are theoretical and cannot be equated with real-world environmental impacts.
Even independent studies have reached different conclusions. An EU-funded study indicates that water consumption in insect farming is higher than in poultry, pig, cattle, or sheep farming, while the UK agricultural report suggests that insect meal saves significantly more water than soybean meal. However, both studies express concern over excessive optimism regarding the eco-friendly attributes of insect protein.
IV.Can cutting-edge food and agri-tech save humanity and the planet?
While some champion so-called “alternative” proteins, they have failed to prove that insect protein or plant-based meats are actually replacing beef and mutton. Some research suggests that edible insect proteins are primarily used in snacks (such as energy bars and crisps) rather than as staples—meaning they are an addition to our diet, not a substitution. Meanwhile, eco-friendly “natural grazing” is often dismissed because it is “expensive and low-yield”, yet perhaps this shift towards “reduction as substitution” is the direction in which we should be investing our resources and efforts.
After all, hunger does not stem from scarcity, but from inequality.
Regarding the view that “insect protein can solve the food crisis”: first, there is clear evidence that a global “protein gap” does not actually exist. For those suffering from hunger and malnutrition, protein is merely one of many missing nutrients. Data published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that in recent years, there has been little overall tension between global food production and demand. Yet, as of 2024, as many as 700 million people remain hungry—due to regional conflicts, extreme weather, and economic recession, rather than a lack of supply.
Crucially, a significant amount of waste occurs away from the dinner table: vast quantities of food are used in the production of ultra-processed foods, livestock feed, and fuel. It is estimated that around 15.5% of the Brazilian population faced hunger in 2022, while Brazil produced approximately 70 million tonnes of ethanol from food every year for use as fuel.
At the same time, approximately 1.05 billion tonnes of food were wasted at the household and retail levels globally in 2022, equivalent to 1.3 meals per day for the world’s hungry population. In recent years, the plunge in beef prices in China has been driven by massive imports from Brazil, though the extreme low cost of these imports is baffling. If we stop looking at it from a cost perspective and instead see it as “destocking”, does everything suddenly make sense? In all honesty, after buying this cheap beef, my own meat consumption increased, while a friend was forced to throw some away a year later because they had stockpiled too much. It is essentially the outsourcing of food waste pressure to the consumer, while producers reap the profits. While we cannot simplify the solution to “sending surplus food to the hungry”, we should certainly question the urgency of increasing income and production.
When it comes to sustainability and ecology, the idea that emerging agri-food “black tech”—such as insect farming and vertical agriculture—stands in binary opposition to conventional industrial agriculture, and that the former can solve the problems created by the latter, may have been flawed from the start. What truly needs examining is the shared underlying ethos and logic: regarding nature as an object to be manipulated and redesigned at will. Insect farming artificially concentrates insects in a space that requires precision equipment to maintain; industrial livestock farming is similarly a classic example of humans redesigning a space for intensive rearing and feed cultivation.
By now, the secrets are out: the uneven distribution of food exacerbated by intensive farming, the transport emissions left in the atmosphere, the pollution from manure and wastewater, and the devastating impact of antibiotic overuse on surrounding ecosystems. Can we really believe that agri-food “black tech”, following the exact same logic, will save us?
Of course, these agri-food “black tech” projects were launched primarily to attract investment; it is therefore unsurprising that they ended up putting the cart before the horse. Capital requires new narratives and growth points, and is willing to alter human dietary habits to achieve them. This is a story that repeats itself constantly within the modern food system, leaving us to bear the cost in terms of food safety, nutritional health, and ecological crises when the dust finally settles.
Perhaps this time, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of these changes sooner, and even begin to imagine a truly sustainable model for insect farming. But the prerequisite is that we must not be swept up in the marketing rhetoric used to attract investment, and we must be realistic about the various flaws and shortcomings of current insect farming models that need to be changed.
History continues to move forward. On 20 January 2025, the European Commission approved the marketing of UV-treated whole yellow mealworm larvae powder as a novel food, effective from 10 February this year. Currently, many countries, including China, are gradually expanding the scope of insect protein additives, attempting to use them as supplements or substitutes for animal protein. In the future, will humans really “eat bugs” on a large scale? Writing this, I realise that this is no longer just a question for a science fiction movie.
[2]Luo Qingyao, Liao Xiudong. Dataset of mineral element contents in major livestock and poultry feed resources in China [J]. Science China Data (Chinese-English Online Edition), 2018, 3(02): 14-21.
[3]FAO. 2024. Food Outlook – Biannual report on global food markets. Food Outlook, June 2024. Rome.https://doi.org/10.4060/cd1158en
[4]Zhang Bo, Yang Xiaowei, Kang Zhiyong, et al. Research progress on the development and application of miscellaneous meal protein resources in the context of soybean meal reduction and substitution for feed [J]. China Feed, 2025, (09): 146-160. DOI: 10.15906/j.cnki.cn11-2975/s.2024070007-12.
[5]Gui Cong. Effect of low-protein diets and soybean meal replacing fish meal on growth performance, body composition and antioxidant capacity of largemouth bass [D]. Huazhong Agricultural University, 2022. DOI: 10.27158/d.cnki.ghznu.2022.000532.
[6]Zhou Xingyou, Ma Chong, Hu Bin, et al. Research progress on the application of black soldier fly in aquaculture [J]. Journal of Environmental Entomology, 2024, 46(05): 1076-1084.
[7]https://www.aafco.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Ingredient_Definitions_Minutes_2021_Midyear.pdf
[8]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect-based_pet_food
[9]Zhao Li, Zhang Yating. Why do unscrupulous pet foods persist despite repeated bans? [J]. Reporter’s Observation, 2025, (04): 62-65.
[10]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202500089
[11]Zhiyan Consulting. [Industry Trends] Analysis of development policies, competitive landscape and future prospects of China’s insect protein industry in 2023 [OL].https://www.sohu.com/a/754398407_120950077,2024-1-26.
[12]Liu Fenghua, Xiao Fayi, Zhang Shuai, et al. Nutritional properties of insect protein and research on its application in dog and cat food [J]. China Feed, 2025, (07): 187-191. DOI: 10.15906/j.cnki.cn11-2975/s.2024020007-03.
[13]Song Xiaoyan, Yang Chaowu, Yu Chunlin, et al. Research progress on soybean meal reduction and substitution technology for livestock and poultry [J]. Heilongjiang Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, 2024, (17): 13-17. DOI: 10.13881/j.cnki.hljxmsy.2023.12.0163.
[14]Xiong Jie, Yan Yi, Luo Jie, et al. Discussion on the application of yellow mealworms and black soldier flies in ecological governance [J]. Shandong Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, 2024, 45(12): 43-46.
[15]Xiong Jie, Yan Yi, Zhang Huaqi, et al. Progress in the application of bioconversion products from kitchen waste in livestock and poultry feeding [J]. Shandong Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, 2025, 46(01): 101-104.
[16]Liu Mingkang. Effect of enzymatic hydrolysed black soldier fly powder on feeding preferences, blood indices and intestinal microbiota of cats and dogs [D]. Wuhan Polytechnic University, 2024. DOI: 10.27776/d.cnki.gwhgy.2024.000524.
[17]Mo Yiming. Analysis of the farming benefits of yellow mealworms [J]. New Rural Technology, 2024, (10): 53-54.
[18]Liu Zhijun, Li Jianzhong, Ouyang Chuang. Effect of black soldier fly larvae powder replacing fish meal on growth performance, physiological metabolism and muscle quality of hybrid mandarin fish [J/OL]. Journal of Shanghai Ocean University.https://link.cnki.net/urlid/31.2024.S.20250414.1309.004
[19]Zhao J, Pan J, Zhang Z, et al. Fishmeal protein replacement by defatted and full-fat black soldier fly larvae meal in juvenile turbot diet: Effects on the growth performance and intestinal microbiota [J]. Aquaculture Nutrition, 2023, 8128141.
[20]Chen Ling, Dong Xiaolin. Nutritional value of yellow mealworms and their application in animal husbandry [J]. Feed Research, 2025, 48(07): 170-173. DOI: 10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2025.07.031.
[21]Bosch, Guido & Loureiro, Bruna & Schokker, Dirkjan & Kar, Soumya & Paul, Aman & Sluczanowski, Nicky. (2024). Black soldier fly larvae meal in an extruded food: effects on nutritional quality and health parameters in healthy adult cats. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed. 10. 10.1163/23524588-00001093.
[22] Alexander, P.; Berri, A.; Moran, D.; Reay, D.; Rounsevell, M.D.A. The Global Environmental Paw Print of Pet Food. Glob. Environ. Chang. 2020, 65, 102153. [CrossRef]
[25]Zhang Dong. Carbon emission analysis of different utilisation methods for three-phase organic solid residue from kitchen waste [J]. Environmental Health Engineering, 2024(1): 32.
[26]Ghina Kotob, Nicky Sluczanowski, Shahida Anusha Siddiqui, Nuria Martin Tome, Monika Dalim, Paul van der Raad, Kees Aarts, Aman Paul,Potential application of black soldier fly fats in canine and feline diet formulations: A review of literature,Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology,Volume 25, Issue 4,2022,101994,
[27]https://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2025/03/02/socialnews-252660.html
[28] Rumbos, C.I.; Athanassiou, C.G. ‘Insects as Food and Feed: If You Can’t Beat Them, Eat Them!’—To the Magnificent Seven and Beyond. J. Insect Sci. 2021, 21, 9. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
[29] vanHuis, A.; Oonincx, D.G.A.B. The Environmental Sustainability of Insects as Food and Feed. A Review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2017, 37, 43. [CrossRef]
[30]Li Guoqing. Breeding optimisation and economic benefit analysis based on self-supply of black soldier fly eggs [J]. Environmental Health Engineering, 2024, 32(06): 50-56. DOI: 10.19841/j.cnki.hjwsgc.2024.06.007.
[31]FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2024. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 – Financing to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms. Rome.
[32]United Nations Environment Programme (2024). Food Waste Index Report 2024. Think Eat Save: Tracking Progress to Halve Global Food Waste.https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/45230.
[33]Luo Sunlin, Chen Yiqiang. Comprehensive analysis of major mycotoxins in pet food: toxicity, occurrence, detection and regulation [J]. Journal of Economic Zoology, 2025, 29(01): 43-47. DOI: 10.13326/j.jea.2025.2039.
[34] ADDEO NF, SCIVICCO M, VOZZO S, et al. Mineral profile and heavy metals bioaccumulation in black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens, L.) larvae and frass across diverse organic substrates [J]. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 2024, 23(1): 179-188.
[36]WWF.2022.The future of feed: how low opportunity cost livestock feed could support a moreregenerative UK food system. Available at:https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/202206/future_of_feed_summary.pdf [Accessed 18 July 2024] WWF-UK.
[37]FAOSTAT, 2023. Crops and livestock products. [Online] Available at:https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL[Accessed 14 November 2023].
[38]https://news.cau.edu.cn/mtndnew/568ee5ee250747e596094eba8668f9a3.htm
[39]A Liang. Vertical Farming: Why are they going bankrupt before they even have a chance to save the planet? [OL].https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/lTLF0RLsF9NfBmWmvPp70A.2023-12-11.
[40]T. Blom, A. Jenkins, R.M. Pulselli, A.A.J.F. van den Dobbelsteen,The embodied carbon emissions of lettuce production in vertical farming, greenhouse horticulture, and open-field farming in the Netherlands,Journal of Cleaner Production,Volume 377,2022,134443,ISSN 0959-6526,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134443.
[42]CCTV.com. Waste ‘gluttons’: Black soldier fly projects launched one after another, but the problem of ‘not being full’ remains to be solved [OL].https://tv.cctv.com/2023/05/30/VIDE0LCWqzKpVNDXMReN7aUD230530.shtml.2023-5-30.
[43] Lin Fangzhou, Li Jiacheng. Not enough rubbish to burn? Ten doubts about waste [OL].https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3dOeSOJrBUp9rJ_c755QeA.2025-06-18.
[44] FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2025. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 – Addressing high food price inflation for food security and nutrition. Rome.
[45] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/169 of 8 February 2022 authorising the placing on the market of frozen, dried and powder forms of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor larva) as a novel food under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 (Text with EEA relevance)[OL]https://ndls.org.cn/standard/detail/b4de4ca9c4645de50c2e3c5de1b21730.2022-02-08.
[46] Liu Yusheng, Wang Fubin, Cui Junxia, et al. Current status and progress of research and utilisation of yellow mealworm resources [J]. Journal of Environmental Entomology, 2010, 32(01): 106-114. DOI: CNKI: SUN: KCTD.0.2010-01-019.
[47] Lyu Jingzhi, Rongzhong Finance. Is the ‘first lab-grown meat stock’ going bankrupt? [OL]. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JKGmlgFIFluCFzmzC1dscw,2025-08-28/2026-01-26.
[48] Anna Heim, Yahoo/finance. How reality crushed Ÿnsect, the French startup that had raised over $600M for insect farming[OL]. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/reality-crushed-nsect-french-startup-225208844.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMWlhrc6pz9xXJCH-RKeUkKPexvPMj6QQJ8_qEiWSpMzrwxNpbbLVwsnwrBM3Ie6UwUd65gvTV4sFmiz5GIvEh8z_DPSdJdrmTfLZB1dA66BglxYzqi2BCNUUo5g9UFcCn7JTjewh9I6IILvrREOUf_8H3k0WZDQB5urVsO_WRJM,2025-12-27/2026-01-26.
[50] SV101. The collapse of the hundred-billion ‘lab-grown meat’ track: Capital fantasies and the bubble of elitism [OL]. https://b23.tv/bJHDGOk.2025-11-26/2026-01-26.
[51] (EU) 2018/1147 [I]. https://bureau-industrial-transformation.jrc.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files/WT_Chinese_ENV-2021-00873-00-00-ZH-TRA-00.pdf,2018-08-10
[52] Guokr. Sugar’s ‘tobacco moment’: How the US sugar industry once manipulated scientific results [OL]. https://m.guokr.com/article/441735/2016-09-21/2026-01-26.
[53] Vanke Charity Foundation. The magic of the black soldier fly [R]. 2022-05.https://www.vankefoundation.com/upload/file/2022-05-11/1a4ad683-3af8-438d-af52-3fc279e602df/%E3%80%8A%E7%A5%9E%E5%A5%87%E7%9A%84%E9%BB%91%E6%B0%B4%E8%99%BB%E3%80%8B.pdf
[54] Biological Reviews (2025) 000–000 © 2025 The Author(s). Biological Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Cambridge Philosophical Society.
[55] Quick Read: In-depth reflections on the ‘supply chain’ behind the cliff-edge drop in beef prices! [OL].https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_Q9yLhsHZvzD9tvBRO7Z-Q,2023-06-09.
[56] Sergiy Smetana, Anita Bhatia, Uday Batta, Nisrine Mouhrim, Alberto Tonda, ‘Environmental impact potential of the European food and feed insect production chain’, Animal Frontiers, Vol. 13, No. 4, August 2023, pp. 112-120, https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfad033
