TAZmuse7250: INSECT FARMING & WASTE MANAGEMENT

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Dec 19, 2022 Insect farming pioneer, Olympia Yarger, devised a waste management system that uses fly larvae to process food waste into fertiliser. She’s already stopped more than 35,000 tonnes of food waste going to landfill. Olympia Yarger received the 2023 ACT Australian of the Year award.

Olympia Yarger has a passion for sustainable farming. She was always determined to farm. But land is expensive and farming animals even costlier. So is the impact on the environment. But she could afford to farm insects. Insects are a novel way to produce protein and make a financially sustainable farm. With insects she could make something valuable from next to nothing, and create a sustainable feed source for animals. Goterra’s first insect farm in Canberra was born. Click to read more

Olympia Yarger Founder & CEO OF Goterra. Olympia has a global vision to decentralise food waste management with insect-powered, smart city infrastructure. As Goterra’s chief executive and evangelist, she’s redefining food waste culture in Australia and creating sustainable feed options for our farmers. A founding Director of the Insect Protein Association of Australia, she’s an active advocate and mentor for the emerging insect farming industry, women in STEM and promoting agtech as a career path for young people. A species of soldier fly is named after her: Hermetia Olympiae!

The black soldier fly is often associated with the outdoors and livestock, usually around decaying organic matter such as animal waste or plant material. Since black soldier fly larvae consume decaying matter, they have been used to reduce animal manure in commercial swine and poultry facilities (Newton 2005). Although they are not known as a disease vector, adult soldier flies are a potential mechanical vector of various pathogens. A more likely negative interaction would be accidental ingestion of black soldier fly larvae by animals or humans. (Goddard 2003).