Targeting adolescents as agents of change for an entomophageous future

Abstract

AbstractAs food supply practices must adapt to the reality of limited natural resources, alternative solutions must be found to meet the dietary needs of a growing world population. Edible insect consumption represents a sustainable substitute to that of conventional meat. Psychological barriers are largely responsible for dictating Westerners’ aversion towards insect eating. As adolescents have been less exposed to socio‐cultural constructs and as their food habits are less entrenched, they might express a greater openness towards edible insect products. This study aims to assess the impact of exposure and familiarisation with edible insects on adolescents' attitudes towards entomophagy. Between February 2018 and January 2020, 662 students aged 15–16 years from a Canadian high school engaged in a pedagogical insect farming project during which they had the chance to learn about insects as a sustainable foodstuff, while being familiarised with insect farming methods. Three different student cohorts took part in this project. The first and second had the opportunity to raise crickets and the third mealworms. Relying on surveys distributed before and after these 3 month projects, time‐based and type‐based analyses regarding students’ initial attitudes towards edible insects and their evolution over the course of these activities were performed. Results showed that the project greatly enhanced their acceptance towards edible insect consumption, suggesting that the speed and impact of peer influence amongst adolescents could be leveraged in promotional efforts to accelerate the adoption of edible insects.