By Nat, CEO & Co-founder of Bug Mars
This isn’t a blog about sustainability.
It’s about building what the world’s going to wish already existed.
I didn’t start Bug Mars because bugs are cool (they are).
I started it because protein is about to get real complicated and if we wait until it’s obvious to the masses, we’re already too late.
We are going to need insect protein.
Not in theory.
Not in someone’s white paper.
In reality.
For livestock.
For aquaculture.
For pet food.
For people.
Soon.
“I’m not a prepper, but I am a little preppy.”
If I don’t have my multitool on me, I feel exposed.
If I can’t find the weak spot, I assume I’m standing on it, or I am it.
And if I see the cracks in our food system widening, I’m not waiting for permission to fix them.
That is why Bug Mars exists.
We’re building the infrastructure right now because when you need it, it’s already too late.
OK Fine, Let’s Talk About Sustainability (But not the corporate kind)
I know, I know... “sustainability” is a word that’s lost all meaning.
So forget the paper cut-outs of hand-holding-across-the-globe and look at sustainability as successful system design.
And the best example I can give of successful system design comes from, well, insects.
Swarm intelligence.
Insects are efficient in a way that should embarrass us.
Bees have perfected cooperation through thermoregulation, decentralized communication, and precise division of labor.
Crickets? They’re audio engineers. They measure temperature with sound.
Ants have mastered resource management and collaboration. Have you seen them handle a crisis? No panic. No meetings. No bureaucracy.
Just instant reorganization. Distributed intelligence. Swarm coordination. Minimal ego. Maximum output.
They don’t waste energy. They don’t stall out.
They evolve in real time, adapt to stress, and optimize constantly.
They organize, build, and work together in ways that humans have only demonstrated a few times in history.
Insect colonies don’t need mission statements.
They work. (And they work!)
Period.
Learning from Insects, Not Just Farming Them
I envision an agricultural system where every task is optimized.
Where resources are perfectly distributed.
Where the entire operation runs like a colony.
It's efficient, decentralized, and self-sustaining.
We could build smarter farms, smarter infrastructure, and smarter economies using these same principles.
Insects aren’t aren't surviving. They’ve been thriving for 400 million years.
They’re already showing us how to live better, work better, and build better systems.
That’s the kind of system I’m passionate about building.
Not because it looks good on a pithy slide deck, but because it works.
Bug Mars’ vision isn’t just about scaling farms. It’s about scaling thinking.
Decentralized.
Adaptive.
Efficient.
Modeled after the only terrestrial systems on Earth that have survived every extinction event.
“I’m not building for my future. I’m building for my death.”
Because the benefits of this platform , this software, this infrastructure, will long outlive me.
The future of insect protein isn’t theoretical.
It’s necessary.
And we’re doing the work now so it’s not too late when you realize you need it.
In Conclusion:
It’s time for us to catch up to insects.
— Nat
CEO & Co-founder, Bug Mars
OK, now for those of you who do want the sustainability points , paper cut-outs and all... (jk.)
The Water Problem No One Wants to Look At
Agriculture consumes 70% of the world’s freshwater, and most of it is wasted.
It takes 1,800 gallons of water to produce just one pound of beef.
Meanwhile, entire countries are hitting water limits. Fast.
Iran just got hit with targeted strikes on multiple nuclear enrichment sites and while off-site radiation hasn’t been confirmed, the water contamination risks are real.
This is a reminder:
When a system fails, it doesn’t happen slowly.
It fails quietly,
Then all at once.
You don’t want to wait for water to be gone to figure out how to save it.
You really should want to start building smarter systems now.
Soy Is a Symptom of a Lazy System
And I like tofu!
But 85% of the world’s soy isn’t feeding people.
It’s feeding cows, pigs, chickens, and farmed fish.
Soy monocultures are ripping through forests. Guzzling water. Then they get shipped around the planet to fatten up animals that could be fed better.
This isn’t just unsustainable.
It’s dumb.
It’s an over-engineered solution to a solvable problem.
Bugs don’t need soy.
They eat waste.
They thrive in tight spaces.
And they convert feed into protein with freakish efficiency.
Want smart protein?
Build it on bugs.