If the idea of eating bugs turns your pallet, consider that many cultures have included insects in their diets for centuries. Unger created Farm 432 with the growing population in mind, that will call for meat production to double by 2050. Creating an at-home protein source to offset the demands of the meat industry may be the only way to satiate growing populations.
The system works in a cycle of 432 hours (thus the name). One gram of black soldier fly eggs are hatched in the system, and mature into 2.4 kilograms of larvae. The larvae then fall into the harvest bucket, which can be emptied and cooked. The whole system wastes no energy as adult black soldier flies don’t consume anything, and larvae thrive on biowaste, making for a wastel-ess system.
Black soldier fly larvae are also packed with protein, being one of the highest in the insect kingdom. Each contains 42% protein, calcium and amino acids.