How the rapid growth of insect farming for food and feed raises welfare questions that the industry and researchers are beginning to address.
Insect farming for food and feed represents a rapidly scaling industry whose welfare implications depend fundamentally on a question that science has not yet resolved: are farmed insects capable of suffering? The evidence suggests that insects have nociceptive systems and show avoidance responses to harmful stimuli, but whether this constitutes the kind of subjective experience that generates moral obligations remains genuinely unclear. Given this uncertainty, a precautionary approach — minimising likely stressors and developing more humane killing methods — seems warranted, particularly given the enormous scale of production. The question of insect welfare is likely to become one of the most important emerging issues in animal ethics as production grows.