Timeline for Would insect farming be viable for a preindustrial society?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 30, 2022 at 21:13 | comment | added | John | @Nosajimiki and again it still does nothing to prevent the insect population from crashing. also cayenne pepper does basically nothing to most parasites, Parasites are particularly resistant to chemical cooking since they have already evolved to survive the digestive system of multiple species. Freezing is actually one of the best defenses against parasites but also unavailable pre-industrial. | |
| Sep 30, 2022 at 21:08 | comment | added | John | @Nosajimiki which works because the generation time of a pig is long enough to prevent the parasites from adapting to changes in preparation, and even then completely eliminating parasites in pork is difficult. the trick with difficult cooking method is people skip or slack off on them, which is why buying raw pork is so difficult, many companies won't risk it. 200 degrees is actually fairly hard to achieve and still is not enough to kill off all parasites. it means many preparation method are off the table, you can cook them in water for instance, it will boil off to fast. | |
| Sep 30, 2022 at 20:22 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | You develop the sanitation methods to match the meat. While beef is normally considered sanitary once heated to 145°F (63°C), Toxoplasmosis in pork is killed by heating the meat to 160°F (71°C). Insect meat is typically sanitized either through a long slow cooking process that raises the internal temperature to nearly 200°F(93°C), or it is cooked in spices like cayenne pepper that kill the parasites . | |
| Sep 30, 2022 at 20:13 | comment | added | John | @Nosajimiki modern non-insect factory farms are higher risk because of high population density, densities much much smaller than even small scale insect farming if it is meant to be the protein source for humans. | |
| Sep 30, 2022 at 19:54 | comment | added | John | @Nosajimiki less tech makes the risks even higher, since they don't understand how to combat parasites. Any density high enough to make a significant impact on the human diet is too high. Also toxic is different than parasites, many parasite eggs survive cooking which is why the FDA pushes so hard for parasite safety. and cooking does nothing to prevent parasite induced population crashes. | |
| Sep 30, 2022 at 15:11 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | Also, there is the question of preparation. Highly toxic foods like Eel and Cassava are very dangerous to eat if not properly prepared, but still considered staple foods in there respective regions. Properly cooking your insects will kill the parasites; so, if insects are your most viable protein source, the locals will learn how to prepare it properly. | |
| Sep 30, 2022 at 14:32 | comment | added | Nosajimiki | Herd sickness is a much bigger problem in the industrial age. Pre-industrial societies maintain many smaller populations at lower densities than industrial farmers reducing the risk of diseases and parasites to begin with. | |
| Sep 29, 2022 at 22:56 | history | answered | John | CC BY-SA 4.0 |