Insect farming for protein is growing rapidly, but the welfare of the billions of insects farmed annually remains deeply uncertain and largely unstudied.
Insect farming is promoted as a welfare-friendly alternative to conventional animal protein, partly because the welfare status of insects is uncertain. This uncertainty cuts both ways — it is also uncertain that insects do not suffer, and given the billions of animals involved in projections for the sector, precautionary welfare attention is warranted. Research into insect sentience, species-appropriate housing conditions, and humane killing methods deserves investment proportional to the scale at which insects will be farmed.