ASIFF story
The concept of bringing together people interested in edible insects was first introduced by Gene DeFoliart, who launched The Food Insects Newsletter (Volumes 1–8(2), 1988–1995). These groundbreaking newsletters can be accessed here: Food Insects Newsletter Archive. More about DeFoliart and photo from UW’s bug-eating advocate had global impact.
Prof. Dr. Ir. Arnold van Huis worked in Nicaragua from 1974 to 1979. He earned his PhD from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. From 1982 to 1985, he coordinated a crop protection training program for eight Sahelian countries. Between 1985 and 2015, he served as a tropical entomologist at Wageningen University. Since 2015, he has been an emeritus professor, focusing on the role of insects as food and feed.
In 2013, he published the book Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which has been downloaded millions of times. In 2014, he organized with FAO-the Insects to Feed the World conference, which was attended by 450 participants from 45 countries. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed.
The idea of forming an organization to unite individuals with a shared interest in insects as food gained momentum in 2010, when the FAO conducted a survey to identify stakeholders in the field. However, the response was limited, reflecting the relatively small community involved at the time. For instance, no responses were received from Russia or the former Soviet republics to the Russian-language questionnaire.
In 2019, the vision for a formal organization took shape, and the concept for the Academic Society for the Advancement of Insects as Food and Feed (ACAIFF) was developed. The initial driving forces behind this idea were Grant W. Vandenberg and Marie-Hélène Deschamps, organizers of the 4th Insects to Feed the World (IFW) Conference in Quebec City (June 12–16, 2022), along with Jeffery Tomberlin and Arnold van Huis. The idea gained new life at the Quebec conference, where more than ten people expressed interest in joining. The leftover funds from the event provided the financial foundation to kickstart the society’s formation.
By 2022, a committee began drafting the society’s constitution and bylaws, and in June 2024, the constitution of the Society of Insects as Food and Feed was officially registered in the Netherlands. A further commission was established in 2024 to develop the society’s website, which was launched in early 2025.