Allen's Flowers Plants

She pulled a dry-roasted cricket out of a bowl and carefully lifted it to her mouth. “At first I was a little iffy,” Sarah admits. “I made the mistake of looking it in the eyes.”At the time, Sarah was a fifth grader at Ellis School in Fremont, N.H. Before her language-arts class held its bug buffet, the students had learned all about the benefits of eating insects. Packed with protein and vitamins, insects are quite nutritious. And raising them takes far less land and water than raising traditional livestock, such as cattle. So as a food source, insects are better for the planet.Fifth and sixth graders in New Hampshire held a classroom Bug Buffet last spring. Anyone who couldn’t stomach these dry-roasted insects (or insect-containing snacks such as cricket chips or cricket pancakes) could opt to instead eat gummy worms.The kids wrote essays on the environmental and health benefits of eating bugs, or entomophagy (En-tuh-MAH-fuh-jee). They read a book about a student who ate a stink bug as defense against a bully. They watched videos of Asian people relishing tarantula burgers. Yet Sarah still had to brace herself and count to three before popping that bacon-and-cheese-flavored cricket into her mouth. “I told myself that I’m not going to lose to a bug,” she says. But after chewing a few seconds, she cringed.She’s not alone. To most North Americans and Europeans, the thought of eating insects triggers the same reaction: Ewwww.This isn’t how people react to all foods they dislike. For example, people who dislike asparagus usually don’t say it’s disgusting. “They just say it tastes bad,” points out Paul Rozin. “But they’d say goat intestine is disgusting.” We seem to save our revulsion for certain animal products.Rozin is a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He’s spent decades studying how some foods have become taboo. He and other researchers are trying to learn where this disgust comes from — and whether it can be un...

Owner Jennifer Smith told the Daily Press that Allens Flowers and Plants, located on Main Street and E Avenue in Hesperia, is moving west and “just over the railroad overpass.”“We’ve been here for close to 30 years and we want people to know that we’re not leaving town,” said Smith, as family and friends helped pack for the final move. “We’re moving to the old Domingo’s shopping center on Main Street. It’s a pretty busy center so we’re hoping that we do well.”As Smith stood outside of a large refrigerated walk-in, she said the flower shop’s move comes as a result of a new landlord who recently purchased the office complex that’s home to a smoke shop, church, pizzeria and several other businesses.“Our last day here is July 30th and we’ll be open for business at our new place on August 1st,” said Smith, as a customer left with a boxed flower arrangement. “It’s a lot of work to move this entire shop and to keep our flowers and plants fresh while moving.”Smith said she purchased a new refrigerated unit for her new shop, which is about the same size as her current location, just across the street from Sizzler in the Midtown Square Shopping Center.The shop’s current location holds many memories, including providing flowers to individuals for their high school homecoming, prom, wedding and special events, Smith said.Smith said it’s the shop’s “corner location” where her team created a special flower arrangement for the memorial service of John Cabrera Jr., of Phelan, and Nicole Lyle, of Victorville, at High Desert Church.Cabrera and Lyle were killed, and three of their friends were injured, when a dump truck hit their car at the intersection of the southbound Interstate 15 off-ramp and Highway 138 in 2014.“There have been so many tragedies in the area and we’ve had the opportunity to help by donating our time and flowers,” said Smith, as she held a photo of Cabrera. "W...