Welfare Science

Farmed Insect Welfare and Standards

Farmed insects including black soldier fly, mealworm, and crickets are produced in increasing quantities for food and feed, with emerging welfare standards attempting to address uncertain sentience.

Key Facts

Welfare Considerations

Insect farming welfare requires developing standards under uncertainty about sentience. The precautionary principle suggests implementing welfare measures while research develops. The scale of insect farming - trillions of individuals - means even small probabilities of sentience multiply to large welfare relevance.

What You Can Do