Insect farming is growing rapidly as a sustainable protein source, raising novel welfare questions about the sentience and potential suffering of billions of farmed insects.
Insect farming welfare occupies a frontier of moral and scientific uncertainty. The sheer scale of insect farming — billions of individuals per facility — means that even a small probability of sentience, combined with potentially poor welfare conditions, could represent a vast welfare harm. Black soldier fly larvae may have more limited nociception than adult insects; their welfare during the larval stage is likely lower-concern than for other invertebrates. However, precautionary attention to killing methods is warranted — rapid freezing or other methods that minimise potential suffering are preferable to slower methods. As insect farming scales dramatically in coming decades, establishing welfare standards now — before the industry becomes entrenched — is both scientifically and ethically important.