Trillions of insects farmed annually — what does welfare science say about their capacity to suffer?
Insect farming is growing rapidly as a sustainable protein source — for animal feed (fish, poultry, pet food) and increasingly for human consumption. The market is projected to reach billions of dollars annually, with trillions of insects farmed each year.
This scale creates an urgent welfare question: if insects have any capacity for suffering — even a small probability — the number of individuals affected makes this one of the most numerically significant welfare issues in existence. Under moral uncertainty, the expected welfare impact of insect farming may be comparable to or exceed that of vertebrate farming.
The dominant insect for feed production. Larvae are raised on organic waste, then killed (typically by heat). Welfare considerations: larval density, substrate quality, temperature management, killing method. BSF larvae show minimal nociceptive responses compared to other insects — possibly lower welfare concern.
Major species for human consumption (cricket flour, whole crickets). More active and behaviorally complex than BSF larvae. Welfare considerations: crowding, food and water access, temperature, humidity, killing method (freezing standard practice — potentially humane). Some evidence crickets show nociceptive responses.
EU-approved for human food. Larvae are the primary form farmed. Killing typically by blanching or freezing. Welfare considerations: substrate quality, temperature, killing method efficacy. Mealworm cognition is less studied than bee or fly cognition.
Not a "farmed" insect in the same sense, but commercially managed at vast scale for honey and pollination. Bees have the strongest evidence for insect sentience among commonly-used species — pessimistic cognitive bias is well-documented. Commercial beekeeping practices including queen killing, wing clipping, and hive manipulation raise genuine welfare concerns.
The method of killing insects has potential welfare significance if insects are sentient. Current industry practices include:
Insect farming is promoted primarily as a sustainability solution — using organic waste streams, requiring less land and water than vertebrate livestock, and producing comparable protein. From a welfare perspective, if insects replace vertebrate livestock protein, and if insects have meaningfully lower sentience probability than chickens or fish, this could represent a net welfare improvement even at much larger scale.
However, this calculation is not certain. If insects are sentient, farming trillions of them in dense, unnatural conditions could represent a welfare problem that dwarfs current vertebrate farming by sheer numbers. Developing welfare standards now — before the industry fully scales — is far easier than reforming a mature industry later.
The moral uncertainty around insect sentience makes this a priority area for welfare research and precautionary standards.
Insect Sentience Science Insect Pain Research Insect Welfare Deep Dive