One of the basic problems that we face on Earth today as a result of ever-growing population is… how do we feed the world without taxing our natural resources? There’s no doubt that modern approach to raising livestock for food goes against all of the laws of nature – it wastes precious resources while creating unnatural conditions for the animals, ruining their health, and ultimately, changing their nutritional profile. Foods from these operations have limited distribution, and the entire system wasn’t designed to support health of our planet. This is the status quo until we think outside the box and propose some new solutions. So, how should we go about increasing the food security of our world?

My guest today proposes that the solution lies in the microlivestock farming of insects as a food source. Yes, bugs. Rachel Bergmans co-founded MIGHTi – which stands for the Mission to Improve Global Health Through Insects – with fellow-PhD candidate, Valerie Stull.

Rachel and I chat about the reasons behind global food insecurity, how scalable our current food system is, what natural resources are being taxed as a result of our modern agricultural system, the ‘ick-factor’ of insects as a food source, why you are probably already be eating them, the nutritional profile of insects vs. other protein sources, why insects could be a sustainable solution to the global food security problem, what microlivestock farming really is, and how the MIGHTi initiative plans to pursue its mission.

And Rachel tells us about her favorite insect to eat. (Hint: she has a herd of mealworms).

Insects are a quality, sustainable food source… tell me, how will you try them?

Rachel’s Bio: Rachel Bergmans, MPH, is an epidemiology doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine & Public Health. Her research focuses on environmental and social determinants of health among high risk populations. In 2014, she co-founded MIGHTi, which stands for the Mission to Improve Global Health Through Insects. MIGHTi’s mission is to improve global food security and sustainability by promoting microlivestock farming and the use of insects for food and feed through social outreach, community collaboration, and research.