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A lot of people go vegan to help the planet. But what if you could do something even better than eating plants? According to the FAO, 30% of the world’s agricultural land area is used to produce food that will be wasted. Fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers have the highest wastage rates of any food (roughly 40 – 50 %). That’s a lot! Thankfully, insects can turn all that food waste into protein, vitamins, and minerals.
We are all well aware of the inhumane treatment and killing of animals that goes on in slaughterhouses and concentrated animal farming operations. But there is another much less talked about, but just as real danger to animals: Farming of edible crops.
I think most people would agree that harming anything that can suffer or feel pain is a negative thing. Unfortunately, our current food and agricultural industries contributes to this bad practice regularly. So what can a person do if she wants to reduce the inhumane treatment of animals while getting all the nutritional benefits that animal foods provide? The answer lies in the insect kingdom.
Even in a well-formulated real foods vegan diet there are many possible, even unavoidable, nutrient deficiencies. Several studies have shown that both vegetarians and vegans are prone to deficiencies in B12, calcium, iron, zinc, omega-3 long-chain fatty acids EPA & DHA, and fat-soluble vitamins like A & D. Let’s go through the most common ones and look for a solution that doesn’t involve pills, injections or fortified foods.