Are Maggots the Answer to Food Waste?

A farm in southwestern China uses black soldier fly larvae to break down leftover food, and this could be the key to diminishing the country’s food waste problem.

Capable of consuming twice their bodyweight in food daily, the maggots eat the organic waste until they turn into black soldier flies and are used as energy conservative, protein-packed feed for farm animals like chicken and fish. Crop fertilizer is created from their faeces as well.

Each of China’s 1.4 billion residents discards nearly 30 kilos of food waste annually, so the maggots will never run out of sustenance. Most of the food is purchased from a selection of 2,000 restaurants and given to the maggots, who typically eat two kilos of the food in just four hours.

The food waste pandemic has largely contributed to pollution issues with its greenhouse gas give-off, and 870 million people continue to starve despite the annual excess 1.3 billion tonnes of food that’s simply thrown out. About 40 million tonnes of that waste comes from China.

Of course, the nation’s customs are the main cause of all this leftover food. People order more than they can eat when inviting guests to restaurants as a symbol of their hospitality, and whatever isn’t eaten must be discarded.

China, Australia, South Africa, and Canada all allow farms to feed insects to fish and poultry. The US and EU have more rules on the subject, but the EU will approve the commencement of insect protein fish food in July of this year due to its earth- and budget-friendly nature.

With their satisfactory annual salary, black soldier fly farms are becoming increasingly common in China. Not only that, but the country is working on turning used cooking oil into airplane fuel. The country’s carbon footprint is sure to shrink with the advancements its citizens have made.