Insect farming is growing rapidly for animal feed and human consumption. The welfare of farmed insects raises important ethical questions that producers, regulators, and consumers are beginning to address.
Insect welfare sits at the frontier of animal welfare science and ethics. The scale of insect farming — trillions of individuals — means that even small probabilities of sentience translate to enormous potential welfare impact if negative states occur. The precautionary principle, applied consistently elsewhere in animal welfare ethics, suggests that producers should minimise potential suffering where technically feasible even in the absence of certainty. Optimal rearing conditions — appropriate stocking density, species-specific temperature and humidity, substrate quality, and efficient slaughter — are simultaneously good animal husbandry and welfare-positive practices. As insect farming scales, the welfare questions will only become more pressing.