The insect farming sector is growing rapidly as a sustainable protein source, but welfare standards for farmed insects are at an early stage, with genuine uncertainty about their capacity for suffering.
Whether insects can suffer in morally relevant ways remains genuinely uncertain, but the precautionary principle suggests minimizing potential harm. High-density crowding causes increased mortality and competition. Thermal stunning before processing, when calibrated correctly, appears to rapidly incapacitate insects. Substrate quality and temperature management affect both production outcomes and apparent insect behavior. Researchers advise that given the scale of insect production — trillions of individuals — even small probabilities of suffering warrant attention.