Insect farming for food and feed is growing rapidly as a sustainable protein alternative. The welfare of billions of farmed insects is an emerging ethical question with significant uncertainty.
Insect farming presents a genuine ethical dilemma under uncertainty. If insects can suffer, the welfare implications of farming trillions of them are enormous. If they cannot, welfare concern is misplaced. Current scientific evidence is insufficient to definitively resolve sentience questions for most farmed insect species. The precautionary approach — implementing basic welfare standards that cost little if insects are not sentient but reduce potential suffering if they are — is increasingly advocated by welfare scientists.