Insects were the future of food. They’ve ended up in the pet aisle

Food for animals is fueling demand for insect protein, which could jump 4,900% from 2021 to half a million metric tons by the end of the decade. — Dreamstime/TNS

FOR their first attempt at making food from insects, Sean Warner and Patrick Pittaluga started with a bug burger.

Their patty, which combined black beans with black soldier fly larvae, was cooked up at their Georgia Tech apartment not long after the United Nations had published an influential 2013 report that touted insects as the future of food, a natural resource that could help with rising meat costs and climate concerns as the global population grows.