The rapid growth of insect farming for food and feed raises welfare questions that science is only beginning to address for these taxonomically diverse animals.
Farmed insect welfare exists at the frontier of animal sentience science. The question of whether insects have experiences that matter morally is genuinely uncertain, but the scale of potential suffering if they do — trillions of individuals in potentially stressful conditions — makes the uncertainty itself a reason for precaution. Research into insect nociception, stress responses, and preference testing is growing, and the precautionary principle suggests attention to conditions that minimize potential stress even in the absence of certainty.