As the entomophagy movement continues to grow, insects have been linked to have a higher food conversion efficiency than more traditional meats. Efficiency of conversion is measured by ingested food.
Many different insects have had an energy input to protein output ratio of around 4:1, livestock counterparts have a ratio closer to 54:1. This is due in large part becaue of the fact that feed first needs to be grown for most traditional livestock.
Also, warm blooded creatures with vertebrates need to use a significantly greater amount of energy to stay warm. Extothermic (cold blooded) insects do not.
A great example of this is the fact that only 10% of ingested food is converted to body substance by beef cattle. This is in direct comparison to the 19–31% by silkworms. Additionally 44% by German cockroaches. Studies concerning the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) provide even more evidence for the efficiency of insects as a food source. Hence why we started Aketta!
According to the Encyclopedia of Entomology...
"When reared at 30 °C or more and fed a diet of equal quality to the diet used to rear conventional livestock, crickets showed a food conversion twice as efficient as pigs and broiler chicks, four times that of sheep, and six times higher than steers (oxen) when losses in carcass trim and dressing percentage are counted."
Not to mention how big of a role reproduction rates impact things. Insects for instance reproduce at a much faster rate than beef animals. Female crickets can lay from 1,200 to 1,500 eggs in three to four weeks. Meanwhile the ratio for beef is four breeding animals for each market animal produced. Meaning, Aketta crickets have a true food conversion efficiency almost 20 times higher than beef.
Powerful facts from a powerful insect!