Editorial: From farm to feed − harnessing insects for sustainable food and feed systems

focus was on production systems for conventional farmed animals, such as cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, horses, rabbits and fish. How-ever, a few years later, in the early 2010s, insects emerged as mini-livestock animals, representing a sustainable and innovative solution to the growing global protein demand. Since then, both research and business interest for insect farming have steadily grown, rendering insects as a key element of resilient, circular, and sustainable food and feed production systems. And this is not unjustifiably, as insects offer a range of significant advantages, i.e., rich nutritional value, high feed conversion efficiency and low ecological footprint (e.g., reduced land and water needs, low green-house gas emissions) (Van Huis and Gasco, 2023). Moreover, their ability to thrive on organic waste aligns with circular economy principles, making insect farming a compelling approach to enhancing food security while promoting environmental sustain-ability (Smetana, 2023). Following these developments, the animal journal recently launched a new section about ‘‘Insects as livestock”. The present issue is the first supplement issue of this section, which comprises a selection of ten invited articles that aim to draw the attention of the animal readers to this emerging research topic.