No food without insect pollination — but global warming is affecting admirals, mantises and locusts, according to a new eco-study. But you bravely stand your ground!
More than 20 entomologists have swarmed out – even crawling on all fours – to find out exactly what is still crawling and fleeing on our meadows and alpine pastures. “We were in fields and fields in 300 locations across Austria to get a precise picture,” says research director Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Zuna Kratky.
But light and shadow are very close together! Species adapted to the cold have become helpless victims of global warming – for example, the northern mountain cricket or the common beetle have become extremely rare. But the rare praying mantis and the leek cricket are having a good laugh. Locust and praying mantis populations have declined – especially in areas where fertilizer and spraying are heavily used.
Preserve hedges and corridors
The central and very pleasing result: the total number of species of the animals studied in Austria has remained relatively stable compared to the past 30 years. The number of insects per test area – the so-called individual density – generally remained at least stable. “Our scientific study shows once again that climate change has an impact on all areas of life – even the world of the very smallest. It is crucial for survival that we maintain hedges and fields as well as access to water – but that is only possible with our farmers,” Minister of Agriculture Norbert Totschnig now reminds us.
The EU officially allows crickets as food
Eco conclusion: Traditional, biodiversity-friendly agriculture (alpen meadows & Co.) has a positive effect on the diversity that secures our food supply. The EU is now opening a whole new culinary chapter in the world of insects.
The Commission has authorized a Vietnamese and a Dutch company to market from 24 January powder of Acheta domesticus (domestic cricket) and the larvae of Alphitobius diaperinus (cereal fungus beetle) – in frozen, pasty, dried and powdered form. The approval is initially valid for five years and, as it were, in homeopathic doses of a few grams per package.
Greenpeace boss Egit has little use for these ingredients: “It is better to get valuable organic food from our farmers.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
