My newest endeavour… Isopod breeding.

My newest endeavour… Isopod breeding.

You probably can’t see them in the pic but these containers have 2 different types of Isopod in them. I’m trying to breed them for 2 reasons. First, because the chooks love them. Second, because they are crustaceans, not insects and are related to and taste like shrimp. Yes, they’re quite edible! And yes, I’ve eaten a few!

Isopods include Slaters (aka Woodlice or Roly Polys) and their prolific kin. Being detritivors, they should be easy to feed with partially broken down mulch from the garden, after all, that’s where you see them living in the wilds of your veggie patch. Their wastes can then go back there, making it a nice cycle.

If you look on Youtube, there are a few videos that show folks who breed Isopods for their other pets like lizards and Tarantulas and even some who breed different Isopods for their own sake. These folks seem to use expensive (i.e. not free) foods formulated for them but I reckon partially broken down mulch will do just fine.

I’ve been researching entomophagy for the last year and am 100% certain that adding insects to thec diet of the 10% of the world (mainly rich white folk in the economic North and Oz) can help our species survive. So I’m experimenting with breeding some varieties to get ahead of the game.

Folks have laughed at some of the things I’ve done in the past and now, some of those things have all been adopted, even by the mainstream. There’s a global movement toward insect eating happening as you read this and it’s a bandwagon that I’m happy to be jumping on. I’m not sure if Jelina and Marlon will join me though…

If we don’t eat them, the chooks will love them and I reckon the fish will to.

The only question I have is ‘is eating Isopods’ entomophagy’ if they’re not insects’?