For more than a decade, people have been told to eat bugs to combat climate change. The hot new food source to reportedly reduce one’s carbon footprint is snakes, according to scientists.
New research advocates for humans to increase consumption of snakes as a food alternative to reduce greenhouse gases.
Research published in Scientific Reports last week noted that “python farming appears to offer tangible benefits for sustainability and food systems resilience.”
The authors of the study claim that python farming “can not only complement existing livestock systems, but may offer better returns in terms of production efficiencies.”
“This is an alternative livestock system that needs to be taken seriously,” said the paper’s lead author – Dr. Daniel Natusch. “We’re not necessarily saying everyone should stop eating beef and turn to pythons, but there needs to be a conversation about them having a more prominent place in the agricultural mix.”
“Climate change, disease, and diminishing natural resources are all ramping up pressure on conventional livestock and plant crops, with dire effects on many people in low-income countries already suffering acute protein deficiency,” said Natusch – an honorary research fellow in Macquarie’s School of Natural Sciences.
Natusch added, “No other livestock species studied to date possesses the same credentials or rates of production as pythons.”
The research found that pythons that fasted for up to 4.2 months only lost an average of 0.004% of their body mass per day, but “resumed rapid growth as soon as feeding recommenced.”
The researchers argued that since pythons can go months without foo, they offer worthwhile “food security” in a world with “global food insecurity.”
The scientists pointed out that pythons on farms most commonly eat wild-caught rodents and “waste protein from agri-food supply chains (e.g., pork, chicken, fish).” The paper added that python farms control rodent populations, which is also beneficial to humans.
“Livestock fed on plant protein sourced from a crop monoculture where a natural habitat once stood… is far less sustainable than capturing rodent pests or using waste protein to feed pythons,” Natusch added.
The paper’s lead author noted that pythons rapidly grew to “slaughter weight” within their first year. He also stated that pythons produce far fewer greenhouse gases than traditional livestock.
New Scientist pointed out, “A key thing missing from the study’s comparison is the fact that as carnivores, snakes are eating animals that ate plants, whereas other farm animals eat mostly plants. If the total mass of plant material required per kilogram of carcass was compared, snakes might not look nearly so efficient.”
Natusch rebutted that pythons on farms are fed rodents and waste meat, so it is not about efficiency since the snakes are consuming unwanted food sources that would generally be unutilized.
Natusch even contends that python farming is more sustainable than many plant-based foods.
“For the vegans out there, in my experience, there would likely be more animals suffering from sowing crops into the soil each year than are killed to feed a python,” he declared.
Natusch contends that snake tastes like chicken, explaining, “If prepared well, it’s great.”
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Source: TheBlaze
