People throughout the world have been regularly eating insects as a part of their diets for centuries, according to a report entitled Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization in May.

The earliest citing of entomophagy, or the consumption of insects as food, can be found in biblical literature but eating insects was, and still is, taboo in many Western societies, the report states.

The unconventional nature of entomophagy has meant that farming insects for food and feed has largely been absent from the great agricultural innovations in livestock farming that emerged in past centuries - with a few exceptions, such as bees, silkworms and scale insects.