The missing animal in entomophagy: ethical, ecological and aesthetic considerations on eating insects

Since the publication of the FAO report on edible insects in 2013, insects have been promoted as an ecological and ethical food. Not a traditional part of Western diets, insects are in the West something new and exciting to have on the plate. During the past few years, cricket farming has started in Finland and a variety of insect foods have entered the market. This paper was inspired by the observation that the public discourse seems to emphasize the novelty value of insects as food and to take their ethicalness and ecologicalness for granted. The paper presents an analysis of Finnish media coverage on entomophagy and reflects on the ethics, ecology and aesthetics of eating insects through multidisciplinary research literature. Based on the analysis, the Finnish entomophagy hype seems to lack a notion of insects as animals. Edible insects are discussed in terms of raw material or 'mass', and likened to plants rather than animals. However, existing studies show that more research is needed before conclusions can be made about the ecological and ethical aspects of the emerging insect industry. In animal philosophy it has been suggested that perhaps to appreciate insects, we need to bring them to our tables. We conclude, however, that relational insect ethics, including other ways of co-habitance with and appreciation of insects deserve to be fostered before starting producing insects at an industrial scale.