Traci Ashbe Dark Epic Fantasy Author

A buggy future?

In my book, A Heaven for Toasters, the main source of protein is insects and lab-grown meat (I only hint at this, so don’t worry if you missed that). As with all things futuristic, I based this on current trends. One of these is using maggots, specifically the larvae of black soldier flies, as food.

As The Washington Post reports, for years, the larvae of black soldier flies have been harvested and sold as food for exotic pets such as lizards, birds, even hedgehogs. This is part of a burgeoning industry, one with the potential to revolutionize the way we feed the world. That’s because of the black soldier fly larva’s remarkable ability to transform nearly any kind of organic waste — cafeteria refuse, manure, even toxic algae — into high-quality protein, all while leaving a smaller carbon footprint than it found.

In one year, a…