The roots of industrial insect mass rearing: a glimpse into the early history of maggot farming in France

Résumé fourni par la source

Abstract Insect farming has a long but little-known history. This paper offers a glimpse into the early history of calliphorid larvae production based on old literature, mostly in French. In the 19th and 20th century, texts focused on facilities built to rear maggots, i.e. maggot pits, maggot farms and maggot factories, were frequent in French books and newspapers. Maggot facilities were built in the countryside to provide feed for poultry and farmed fish, evidence that maggots’ nutritional value was already empirically recognised at that time. Small-scale artisanal maggot facilities and bigger pre-industrial ones were also established in urban and peri-urban areas to take advantage of the large number of animal carcasses available in the cities. The maggots produced in cities mostly served as bait for anglers. Urban production of maggots initially took place in knacker’s yards, in ramshackle barns or even at the “maggot manufacturer’s” home. Subsequently, production shifted to dedicated buildings equipped with basins on the ground. Based on a substantial corpus of literature, these modes of production are reviewed and the contours of their forgotten history brought back to light.

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