User:Jarrod Goldin/sandbox

Geoentomarian - one who chooses insect protein over beef and other animal proteins in order to reduce their carbon footprint and make the earth healthier and greener.
Why join the protein revolution?

I CARE! Do you care?

I never really considered the environmental impact of my food choices. I was not a vegetarian, because I was OK with the animals being “killed” for food consumption-- we are hunter-gatherers, after all.

However, as I learned more about the environmental impact of beef, chicken and fish farming, I began to feel a mixture of emotions; sadness, frustration, and bewilderment, just to name a few. For example, can you believe that producing one pound of beef uses the same amount of water as the equivalent of a shower every day for 6 months? Or, that, to produce a steak, it requires what the average person drinks in water, for 5 years.

Isn't that extreme considering the global concern regarding the water shortage?

In fact,

“Water scarcity is one of the most urgent food security issues facing countries of the Near East and North Africa (NENA), with fresh water availability in the region expected to drop by 50 percent by the year 2050, said FAO, as ministers of agriculture and national officials prepared to tackle the issue at a meeting of the organization's highest regional governing body.” FAOUN, 20 February 2014, Rome

This is just one example of the incredible energy inefficiencies related to protein production that is killing our planet, and not so slowly.

According to The Centre for Invasive Species Research (CISR):

“There is a strong case in favor of mass rearing insects for food as this practice is probably less environmentally damaging than other forms of protein production. For example clearing tropical rain forests and farming cattle for meat is highly damaging. In comparison to cattle, insects are five times more efficient at converting food into edible tissue, and when considering this together with their high reproductive rates and quick developmental times, the food conversion efficiency of insects may be 20 times that of cattle! “ Ref: http://cisr.ucr.edu/entomophagy.html

And according to: Aran Dasan, Jacky Chung, Julene Aguirre-Bielschowsky and Jonathan Fraser, studying the Innovation Design Engineering MA/MSc double masters course at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London.

“The livestock industry is notoriously resource-hungry, consuming a third of all crops and requiring 70% of agricultural land. It also accounts for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, through production, transport and animal digestive gas.”

So it is quite clear, empirically, that protein farming by today’s standards is just plain "inefficient", energy inefficient.

Looking at the metrics of inefficiency, as well as the expense associated with protein production, a socially conscious person is contributing a large carbon footprint because of the protein choices they are making. In fact, in an article by Harriet of the UK’s daily mail:

Cattle require 12 times more feed to produce the same amount of protein as crickets Ref : The Daily Mail

Other studies have also suggested that insect farming requires approximately 10times less feed then meet protein farming.

Also, according to Chapul.com, as well as other sources, it requires about 100 Gallons of water to produce only 6grams of beef protein and 71 grams of cricket protein. So insect farming is 10 times more efficient in terms of the amount of feed needed and more than 10 times more efficient with respect to the amount of water necessary.

So by eating insect proteins, you can reduce your carbon footprint, eat healthier and help save the world!

We are coining a new word to help formalize and clarify the mission and paradigm shift for those who care.

We are – GEOENTOMARIANS.

We are people that choose a better, more sustainable and certainly delicious protein alternative, so that we can help to leave the planet in a better place by doing everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint!

By being Geoentomarians , we will:

•Decrease in overall greenhouse gases. •Decrease destruction of land for chicken farming •Decrease destruction of land for pig farming •Decrease destruction of land for cattle farming •Diminish land mass destruction as the most stringent limitation in feeding sustainability for the world •Conserve fresh water •Feed populations in developing countries •Decrease E U (Energy Units) consumption related to the production of consumable protein