Sustainability in dog food is becoming a thing. The dogs we look after always come with their own food which their owners provide but I feel a bit depressed giving regular dog food to dogs. We know how unsustainable livestock farming is and we’re already consuming beyond our resources just to satisfy our meat-heavy diet that it seems suicidal to exacerbate the situation further to feed our pets. It’s also unnecessary.
You can buy vegan dog food but for those who don’t want to force their pets to be vegan you can also buy dog food made from insects. A Dutch company is making dog food and treats out of grubs. Insects are very nutritious (for humans as well as dogs) and they’re a more sustainable source of food than livestock. According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations), insects have a higher food conversion rate which means they require less feed than cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens to produce the same amount of protein. They’re also a high quality protein and a good source of vitamins and minerals. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s also healthier for the dogs because insects are not given hormones and antibiotics. Most of the world’s antibiotics are given to livestock.
I bought a bag of the dog food and treats from Yora and tested them out on Bramble over the weekend and the very fussy Lola today and both hounds have given their approval.
It’s definitely a growing industry and will be an important part of the future of food.
rachel.blog 
We had a diabetic cat that was unable to eat dry cat foods. I wish we had had insect-based foods as an option.
Yora only make dog food so far but there are companies making insect food for cats so if you ever get another one ….
Here’s one made by a French company:
https://tomojo.co/
Part of me is like “Ugh, never!” Even if it is for a dog! But then I remember our little poodle mix enthusiastically chomping on the cicadas that came out in the summer. I used to wonder if the shells didn’t hurt his mouth, but he never seemed to mind. I just didn’t want him to lick my face afterwards. 🙂
My little poodle used to eat cockroaches 🙂
The insect dog food just looks like regular dog food. You can’t see bit of insect in it or anything and it smells quite nice.
First thing in the morning of a fast and the image of insects for food, just seems to somehow help me not feel hungry this morning {{{snort~giggles}}}.
Good! Glad I could help 🙂
[…] now I have been quite interested in entomophagy which means eating insects. I’ve started buying insect dog food for the dogs we borrow and this week I bought a packet of ground buffalo (buffalo is a type of […]