[ExI] Cheap Source of Protein was Re: Pink Slime

[Anders Sandberg]

On 14/03/2012 04:21, spike wrote:
> Think of shrimp or prawns.

Did someone mention sushi? :-)

Yes, food preferences are surprisingly flexible. One constant however is 
that all cultures have a fairly narrow list of "acceptable" meat and 
regards anything else as weird or disgusting. What ends up on what list 
is largely due to upbringing.

Getting proteins from insects is likely a smart move: very productive, 
low GHG emissions, less ethical concern than vertebrates. There might be 
an allergy issue: people with allergy to prawns apparently cannot handle 
many insects, likely because they are allergic to arthropods in general. 
So we cannot entirely rely on insects for food, unless we cure those 
allergies.

Another problem is size. I of course want to solve it by rearing the 
insects in a high oxygen environment so they grow larger...

Eating at the lowest level possible in the nutrient chain increases the 
available food a lot, and lowers risk of toxin accumulation. Algae and 
designer yeasts can be very useful.

-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Future of Humanity Institute
Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University