A semantic and psychological study on representations of entomophagy

It is estimated that in 2050 the world population will be 9 billion people increasing the global food demand of up to 70% compared with the actual food demands. The steady growth of the population and the contextual diminishing resources requires a paradigm shift in food consumption, especially for the western population. It emerges the consequent need to investigate the widespread introduction of novel food, such as terrestrial invertebrate, annelids and insects to ameliorate human and environmental health. In line with these recommendations, the European Union (EU) has recently legislated on novel foods and on the 1st of January 2018 these foods can be bred, sold and marketed in Italy as well. However, entomophagy (e.g. the human consumption of insects as food) is still a taboo in Italy. The present research aims on the one hand at investigating the range of semantic information that is accessed when thinking of food-related emotions and entomophagy and on the other hand at exploring the motivations of rejection and acceptance of insect-based products among young Italian university students. According to the theoretical framework of semantic and social psychology, two focus groups were conducted. The results show how the two different approaches can enrich a qualitative data analysis. The final part of the research is dedicated to discussion and conclusion.