Ask your neighbor or local grocer if he or she has ever eaten an insect and you will receive unsettling glares and incredulous glances, but travel outside the boundaries of the Western world and about 80 percent of Earth’s population consumes insects on a regular basis.

Entomophagy, or the consumption of bugs, has long been anathema to Western diet, but may prove to be a critical lifeline (literally) in the not so distant future. Population is expected to rise to nine billion in 2050. In a world filled with hungry mouths and empty pockets, grubbing bugs would not only curb appetites, it could launch a booming industry. As population rises, food prices will skyrocket and launch many into poverty.

Good bugs are good economics.

A 2006 Cornell study estimated that bugs contribute $57 billion worth of services to the US economy. Bugs provide nutrition for animals, pollination, pest control and dung burial at no cost to the US tax payer.

The insect industry, as a form of sustenance, is a growing phenomenon in The Netherlands. Bugs Originals, in the Netherlands, specializes in everything bugs from freeze-dried locusts to mealworms. Bugs’ products occupy the shelves of 24 specialty stores and will soon include pesto-flavored “bugsnuggets”and Peter’s chicken meal-worm meatballs. Insectisizing the food industry could yield big bucks.

Four University of Chicago students recently created a food start-up called Entom Foods. Their goal is to raise awareness about the nutritional and economic potential of eating insects. Entom was recently awarded $10,000 for start-up and research, according to a HuffPo article. For every single gram of beef produced per 10 grams of feed, 9 grams of insect meat could be made.  Entom Foods is a for-profit company.

Bugs could potentially answer the growing global demand for meat, which is expected to double by 2050. Insects like crickets, mealworms and locusts provide comparable nutrition while using up fewer natural resources. These insects make more efficient use of feed, and “mealworms generate 10 to 100 times less greenhouse gas than pigs,” according to an article in The Atlantic.

The greatest bulwark blocking western expansion in the insect industry remains in the minds of everyday people. The fact that mealworms can be tasty and extremely beneficial to the environment does not float like a butterfly for the average American. There is a wonderful and informative TED talk, which is embedded above. If you can, please watch it then respond to the short survey below. Thanks.