Mom’s Organic Market in College Park sells edible insects, part of a broader trend toward sustainable proteins.
The Maryland-based grocery chain has a small section of the store near the entrance to the pinball area that includes dark chocolate-covered crickets, granola bites made with cricket flour and chile lime-flavored bug snacks, among other things.
The store also sells crickets in bulk in plain, barbecue and honey-mustard flavors.
Insects are a delicacy in many parts of the world, a crunchy alternative to traditional farm-raised meat with a dramatically smaller carbon footprint, and environmentalists have called for more people to eat them.
The grocery chain decided to add them in 2017 after two vice presidents tried them while on a fact-finding trip to Mexico City’s famed La Merced market.
A Southern Mexican food truck that occasionally sets up shop on the Route 1 corridor even serves grasshopper tacos.
If you’re unsure about the texture, you can also buy cricket protein powder, which has a mild, almost nutty flavor and can be added to smoothies instead of whey or used as a substitute for some of the flour in everything from cookies to pancakes.
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