With ecology a growing concern and the world population on pace to hit 9 billion by 2050, one industrial designer seems to have found a super sustainability solution. Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… a Black Soldier Fly?

Yes, after conducting some research on protein quality and yield, architect Katharina Unger determined that the same amount of feed would yield nine times as much protein if it was committed to raising insects instead of beef. She also found impressive comparisons for pork (three times as much protein), and chicken (a little less than twice as much).

With over a third of crops already committed to feeding livestock, more efficient methods may become necessary soon—especially when you consider half of the arable land world-wide is already used for livestock grazing. With little space left to expand, Unger decided to think small…

Enter: the fly. Because they reproduce quickly and live for only a short time, black soldier flies were an ideal protein source for Unger’s project (Farm 432). Bear in mind, her initiative was two-fold: not only did she have to invent a system to make eating insects feasible, but palatable.

While over 80% of countries consume bugs as part of their regular diet, Western nations have largely turned up their noses at the practice. (Though, as Unger subversively points out during a presentation, people in these countries eat about 500 grams of insect parts and particles every year in chocolate bars, vegetables, and canned soups, etc.) Unger sought to make the practice of purposely harvesting your own insect protein fascinating, fun, efficient, and healthy. And, according to her research and results, she may have succeeded.

In a sterile enclosure, home users drop pupas into a hatch at the top of a dome. The pupas hatch and enter the dome where they have access to water and eventually reproduce with each other. After laying their grubs over a collection bin, female flies die and slide into a second compartment beneath the grub bin. The grubs eat until they become prepupae, wherein the infant insects dispel their stomach contents, change their mouth parts, and begin to crawl toward a warm, dry place to pupate. The device contains a ramp that drops off into a separate compartment, where users can collect their prepupal protein.

Though this is more than you wanted to read about fly reproduction and harvesting, the entire design is ingenious. Not only can you see the bugs at every phase of their development, but you never have to touch them before preparing them. (Unger herself said that the tactile experience was the only part that creeped her out.)

Of course, Unger admitted that all of this would be purely academic if the taste was horrible. To her surprise, though, she found that she enjoyed the taste of many insects a good deal and even authored a signature dish: black soldier and tomato risotto. (We suggested soldier fly spaghetti and not-meat balls, but hey, whatever.)

What do you think about this innovation? Could you make insects a part of your regular diet?