Insect farming for food and feed is growing rapidly, with the enormous scale creating potentially significant welfare implications if insects have morally relevant experiences.
If insects have morally relevant experiences, the scale of insect farming dwarfs all other animal agriculture in terms of individual animals affected. Scientific uncertainty about insect sentience does not resolve the ethical question of how to treat potentially sentient animals. Applying precautionary welfare principles to insect farming is appropriate given the massive scale and potential welfare implications.