FARM 432 is an appliance enabling people to grow insect protein in their homes, as a substitute to meat. It is embedded in the scenario of a growing meat demand and tight resources in the face of climate change.

FARM 432 challenges the current paradigm of agricultural production. It suggests a more resilient future of food production, new lifestyles and food cultures.

Goals:

- Decentralized production of proteins for independence of the consumer from larger systems
- Reducing the footprint of agriculture in utilizing insects as food
- Introducing insects as food in the Western diet to stabilize food security

According to reports of the United Nations, meat demand will increase by 50% by 2050. The intensified industrial methods to produce animal protein at this point are creating a problematic situation. We are using one third of all croplands to produce feed for livestock. It is the single biggest factor for climate change.

Livestock which has been separated from the land produces issues of waste management and consequently soil poisoning. 80 % of antibiotics produced are fed to animals, medications that are needed to keep the livestock alive in artificially dense and stressful breeding conditions. These medications eventually end up in our food, causing risks for our health.

Insects, especially black soldier flies, are easy to breed, grow fast and are efficient protein converters. They can be bred on small spaces with little resources. Therefore, insects can, in a more and more urban environment, pose a chance for decentralized food production, decreasing the ecological footprint and stabilizing food security. In many parts of the world, insects are eaten as part of a normal human diet. There is growing interest in eating insects in the Western world, however they still remain a matter of disgust for many people. The biggest challenges for FARM 432 were to find a small-scale model of protein production which makes sense for a household scale yet does not get unreasonable in its dimensions. The second challenge was in the design so that it would evoke trust in the user as well as functionality under ethical considerations.

I started my research under the very broad topic of “Factory Farming” and quickly identified that the production of feed is a key factor in the overall environmental footprint. Looking at feed conversion rates was therefore crucial to identify my potential take on this project. Decentralized food production, potentially in one´s personal home, was one of my strongest perspectives. As people get more conscious about what they eat and where it comes from, the DIY food movement gains more importance. It is comparable with the backyard chicken movement or growing vegetables on the balcony. Growing food locally in the neighborhood or at home has the potential to reduce industrial production and lower the impact on our environment as well as strengthen local infrastructures.

FARM 432 would be part of a network of insect breeders who exchange pupae to refertilize their colonies,exchange recipes and create a new culture around it. With the design I am proposing a new lifestyle, beyond the functionality of an insect breeding device. As part of a bigger system it is about a potential new western culture of insect eating and breeding.

While there are a few other design projects around insects as novel food, most of them are focusing on the end product. I decided on focusing my efforts on the functional and aesthetic issues to grow insects at home, while I left the processing of the end product for the user to decide.

1. Initial Research The initial research showed the tremendous effects of meat production on our environment. 8% of gobal water use go to the production of livestock, mainly for irrigation of feed crops. Antibiotics and stress hormones in meat threaten our health and food security. Livestock is the biggest factor for climate change. In the beginning I was looking into mixed farming systems, aquaponics and alternative types of food such as seaweed or algae. It became clear that the feed for the novel source of animal protein should not stand in any competition with human food. Many consulting sessions with vets, doctors, nutritionists and finally also entomologists resulted in looking closer at insects as a potential novel food.

2. Culinary Research and Decision on Type of Insect Before I finally decided to work with insects I went to a pet shop to get some commonly available insects like grasshoppers, crickets, mealworms and superworms. After killing, dissecting, cooking, frying, mixing and eating them, I analyzed the process. I tried to understand what makes people disgusted by eating insects. I felt slightly disgusted by touching the animals. I knew the only way people would grow insects at home was without having to touch them. So I researched the lifecycles and breeding requirements for different types of insect. I decided on the Black Soldier Fly due to its specific lifecycle, the convenience of breeding and harvesting and their efficiency in converting protein.

3. Test Breeding and Prototyping For the second part of my project I ordered larvae and built up my own fly colony to see if the process works. I developed the design step by step while experiencing my flies and larvae going through their lifecycle, learning from them and implementing it into my design.

Each part of the machine is designed specifically to the needs of the flies and larvae. The shaped holes of the pupation box help them to get rid of the flies´empty pupae, the glass body provides enough space and light. The nozzles of the machine let the smell of the food come through and provide the flies with water and tiny spaces that they need for laying their eggs. Insect-attracting plants like Rafflesia gave inspiration for the shape of these openings. FARM 432 is painted in blue from the inside out, a color tone that is popular in flies, due to the color spectrum of the flies´eyes. They picked this shade of blue in the breeding tests. While some not so attractive parts of the biological process are rather hidden, the basic function of the machine is always very visible through the highlighted migration ramp and transparent breeding chamber.

In this way, the user always stays informed about every stage of the lifecycle. In the end it is not only about producing food, but also about the adventure of growing live animals in your home! All the parts have been physically built and assembled in synthetic materials, due to weight and hygienic reasons.

FARM 432 is challenging the current paradigm in how we produce and consume food. Globalization and urbanization demands more disruptive and flexible solutions than industrial scale production offers at the moment. Innovative tools can enable people to produce food independently from changed environmental conditions or commercial dictate. There can be 9 kg of insect protein produced out of 10 kg of feed, compared to 1 kg of beef, 3 kg of pork or 5 kg of poultry.

FARM 432 is built in a household scale, although the system is scalable. The determined amount of harvest of FARM 432 by now is 500g per week, which makes about two meals. One fly lays up to 1200 eggs at once, 1 gram of these eggs turn into 2.4 kilogram of larvae protein.

Black soldier fly larvae, especially raised in a small-scale system, can easily be fed with organic waste products such as kitchen scraps. Therefore their feed is not in competition with the production of established human food sources but can furthermore repurpose wastes that we cannot consume anymore. Other than traditional livestock, insects also do not transmit any disease and need comparably little water and space.

An added value is that black soldier fly larvae are composting the biowaste, leaving the so-called "tea" as an end product, which, diluted with water, can be used as a fertilizer for plants.

2 billion people all around the world are already eating insects as a substantial source of food. The United Nations are currently undertaking efforts to reestablish almost vanished insect eating cultures in areas such as Southeast Asia in order to improve livelihoods.

We know that there is a “copycat” effect: Developing nations aim to eat what the Western world eats. Hence the growing demand of meat in rapidly growing nations such as India or China. Therefore I expect, in proposing to eat insects in the developed world, to also create a positive impact on international eating habits. There is a rich culinary culture established around insects in parts of South and Central America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Just as with sushi a few decades ago, the introduction of insects into the Western food palate bears the potential of fusing food cultures, creating new culinary knowledge and diversity. There will be new markets for restaurants, chefs, the food industry as well as farmers, individuals and food networks.

There is the potential of FARM 432 to scale and be implemented in restaurants or community farms. The breeding system might also be applied to different insects in the future in order to enjoy the full range of edible insects and potential new textures and flavors.

In the dried status, black soldier fly larvae contain around 42% protein, 35% fat and they are high in calzium, aminoacids and vitamins. Black soldier flies and their larvae are native to North America, but have been distributed all over the world and can be found in subtropical climates as well as in moderate ones such as Europe. They are already bred on a commercial level, mainly as pet food and are also partially utilized in converting biowaste to compost.

Insects are very adaptive species and they are able to survive rough climatic conditions and scarce feed sources. They are naturally occuring in greater numbers in smaller spaces which minimizes the stress of breeding them in captivity. Therefore they are very interesting in ensuring food security in the face of climate change and a potentially more hostile future environment.