Can anyone provide a coherent explanation for why we shouldn't just skip the inefficient step where we convert plant protein to animal protein and just eat a bowl of black beans instead of a maggot concoction? Couldn't we just go for beans if we want supply chain efficiency or meat if we aren't optimizing for that?

The article mentions a 900-ton pile of mango detritus. Exactly how many mango skins and seeds a day would you be willing to eat? (They contain urushiol which causes blisters. Don't eat any!)

But that's just one part of it: this turns waste product into food. Beans don't provide complete amino acids. I don't know if maggots do, but many types of animal flesh do.

Also, most people crave diversity in their diets. How long are you willing to live on an all-bean diet, even if we make it nutritionally complete? Diversity in diet is ideal for humans.

So eat meat or eat beans. Where do maggots enter the picture.

Correct. This article is idiotic. They completely ignore lifetime consumption and only look at current consumption, forgetting that those stocks and other income generating assets are also X% more expensive.