Care guide
BSFL vs Crickets: Which Insect Protein Is Better for the Planet?
Crickets were the insect that introduced most people to edible insects — cricket flour, cricket protein bars, a decade of press. Black soldier fly larvae arrived later and quietly took over the industrial side. The reason is what they eat.
The Deciding Difference
Crickets need a formulated feed. Commercially they are largely raised on grain-based diets — food that had to be grown, on land, with water and inputs. That is the same fundamental structure as conventional livestock, at a smaller scale.
Black soldier fly larvae are raised on organic waste. Nothing is grown for them. This is the whole environmental argument, and crickets cannot make it.
Side by Side
| BSFL | Crickets | |
|---|---|---|
| Feed source | Organic waste | Grain-based diet |
| Competes for cropland | No | Yes |
| Diverts waste | Yes | No |
| Calcium | Very high | Low — needs dusting |
| Noise | None | Significant |
| Odour | Low if managed | Noticeable at scale |
| Human-food approval | Behind crickets | Further along in the EU |
Where Crickets Still Win
Two places, and they are real. Regulatory position for human food — house cricket is among the species authorised as a novel food in the EU, and black soldier fly is not. And familiarity: people will try a cricket product.
For a Reptile Keeper
The environmental question is secondary to the nutritional one, and there the answer is not close. Crickets are a low-calcium feeder that depends entirely on correct dusting. BSFL carry their own calcium. See the full feeder comparison.