This is not a business for the faint of heart or the soft of stomach, but in China the ubiquitous cockroach is becoming a big moneymaker. In this facility, American cockroaches are being bred for use in traditional Mandarin health tonics. The whole breeding facility copies real American cockroaches living environment. They like to live in place with lots of gaps; that’s why we build these and we call them the chips.
The cockroaches are living in these facilities full of gaps. The company extracts what they call the essence of the roaches and sells it as a treatment for peptic ulcers and skin wounds. Here, roaches are being bred as a way to get around a recent ban on food waste being used in animal feed. Instead, the food waste is fed to the roaches, and then the insects become the protein component for livestock feed.
Firstly, the cockroaches can dispose of the kitchen waste so quickly, for example, a cell that’s filled by kitchen waste can be eaten up in two hours. Secondly, it can consume the kitchen waste and transfer themselves into the food cycle and then produce high-quality protein feed which are the dead cockroaches. It is the same as turning trash into goods; turning the trash into resources.
Because no one wants roaches in their home, the facility is build like a prison. They even have a moat filled with roach-loving fish in case any of the critters try to escape. And finally and you knew this was coming. This businessman breeds and sells the protein-rich bugs, touting them as the greatest part of any meal. People feel strange that I do this kind of business.
They ask why I quit the business that I was good at starting doing this, but I think this has great benefit, and will contribute to society, and has great economic value, and my purpose is to lead other villagers toward prosperity if they are willing to follow me. And while they can be eaten by people, his small farm mainly sells the insects to livestock farmers.