INTERVIEW Alternative Proteins Magazine April 2024 37 These gaps have been and are filled by the academic world. The last ten years the number of scientific publications on these issues increased exponentially. So, the idea of organizing this summer school was to provide the newest developments to participants by inviting the best experts from around the world." Prof. Arnold van Huis also emphasizes, "After publishing the FAO book, we never expected that the issue would be embraced by so many around the world." THE GROWTH OF THE MARKET MAY REACH 100 BILLION USD IN A DECADE One of the key reasons why insects are seen as a good alternative is their environmental impact, as Prof. van Huis points out. This issue, which is extremely important in today's world, combined with the other important aspects of insects, has led to an increase in the number of investors in this field and continues to do so. "Insects in comparison to livestock, can be produced with less emissions of greenhouse gas and ammonia, while much less water and land is required. Besides, several insect species can be reared on organic side streams, important if you consider that one third of our agricultural produce and food is wasted," says van Huis. "In this way insect production for food and feed can contribute to a circular economy. Only in Europe more than 1.5 billion euros have been invested in the sector and the growth of the market may reach 100 billion US$ in a decade." WHAT TOPICS DOES THE TRAINING COVER? Wageningen University & Research also supports this rapidly growing market with education through a summer school led by Prof. Dr. van Huis. In this summer school, anyone interested in the topic can discover the challenges and opportunities of rearing insects for sustainable consumption and animal feed, and learn about the optimal production design and facilities needed to farm and process insect protein. Prof. Dr. Ir. Arnold van Huis shares the following details about the scope of the training: "All issues from producing to consuming edible insects will be treated: automation of rearing, processing, environmental impact, nutrition, food safety, legislation, marketing, and consumer attitudes. We organize one day a trip to Belgium where participants will visit an insect facility and they will see and hear firsthand about insect production and processing. We expect the participants after the course to have a general knowledge of the whole field of insects as food and feed." WHO CAN PARTICIPATE In principle, everybody can participate in the training. "What we see is that attending people are from the edible insect industry, academics, but also people from governmental bodies such as food safety agencies, and people who are just interested and may engage in edible insects in the future," adds van Huis. The training, which was also organized once online only during COVID, is now in person. This year's training will be organized between July 1-5, 2024. People, who want to participate in the one week training, must register through Wageningen Academy. If there is enough interest, these trainings are planned to continue as the summer school each year. Prof. van Huis invites those who want to learn more about insects for feed and food to this training: "We welcome everybody to this exciting and fast-developing field." About Prof. Dr. Ir. Arnold van Huis Prof. Dr. Ir. Arnold van Huis worked from 1974 to 1979 in Nicaragua. He got his PhD from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. From 1982 to 1985 he coordinated a crop protection training project for eight Sahelian countries. From 1985 to 2015 he worked as tropical entomologist at Wageningen University. Since 2015 he is emeritus professor and concentrates on insects as food and feed. In 2013 he published with FAO the book Edible insects: future prospects for food and feed security which has been downloaded millions of times. In 2014 he organised with FAO the conference Insects to feed the world, attended by 450 participants from 45 countries. He is chief editor of the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed. He published more than 300 papers of which 170 refereed. On edible insects, he (co)authored several books, 15 book chapters, and 35 refereed and 40 non-refereed publications. Each year he gives presentations in and outside the Netherlands on insects as food and feed.
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