Insects for space agriculture and sustainable foods web on Earth

We propose the use insects for space foods. Since space agriculture will farm many different plant species, some of species require to be pollinated by the help of insects, which have been co-evolved with entomophilous flowering plants. Among major plant species defined for space agriculture, soybean is essential for providing proteins for our diet,. Soybean is an entomophilous species together with other farming plants. We also consider planting forest to harvest excess oxygen and wooden materials for interior of space cabin. Inedible leaves of wooden plants, such as mulberry can feed insect larvae. Converting inedible biomass including excretory waste to edible substance is another proposal for space agriculture. Based on these consideration, we have assessed silkworm pupa, fly and bee larva, locust, termite for their use in space diet. From nutritional view point to design space diet, menu shall be in a good balance of nutritional factors, such as the energy requirement, the composition between carbohydrates and lipids, protein intake and amino acids composition, minerals and vitamins. Taking meal is not just to fill nutritional requirements, but should be delicious for providing the joy of life. Cultural background of foods is quite important at making space diet acceptable for international space crew. Insect eating is a good subject for either space foods, and terrestrial problem of foods crisis that we may face in near future. Development of space agriculture might be a good test bed for the sustainable foods web at limited resource even on the mother planet, Earth.