The “City of Brotherly Love” is feeling the love for edible insects.
When Mom’s Organic Market opened its first store in Center City last fall, leaders of the Maryland chain figured the lunch counter would be popular with the neighborhood workforce and hoped the 16,000-square-foot location would become a regular stop for young professionals on their way home. Nobody necessarily predicted the “sustainable protein” section filled with edible insects, like crickets and mealworms, would be a runaway hit. “It does very well,” said assistant manager Jacquelyn Fluker, who said the bugs can be added to salads for a textural crunch or nibbled as snacks. “I don’t know if it’s the novelty or what. At our other stores, it does OK, but here they seem to be flying off the shelves.”
