Bugs were once again on the menu on Saturday at this year’s Arthropalooza at Churchville Nature Center, writes Emily Rizzo for the WHYY.

In addition to staple barbeque-flavored crickets and pizza-flavored worms, the annual event offered more options than ever, including honey mustard, chocolate coffee, sour cream and onion, and curry tastes.

Those who decided to give eating insects a try got an “I ate a bug” sticker to be able to brag about it later.

“It tastes good,” said ten-year-old Gavin Drabik from Bensalem.

With the world’s population exploding, said Brooke Harowitz, Churchville’s education program manager, people have to find a more sustainable source of proteins other than beef and chicken. She believes that eating bugs will over time become more normal hand less scary.

“Insects freak a lot of people out, but it’s nice to open the gateway and make things more accessible for people,” said Harowitz. “I think when people are up close and personal they are able to transform more than they thought that they would.”

Other activities at Arthropalooza included cockroach racing, learning about the life cycles of monarch butterflies, and searching for water bugs in the frog pond.

Read more about the event in the WHYY.

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