biological supermarket
n.— «According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, wetlands are “among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to rain forests and coral reefs.” The EPA’s website refers to them as “biological supermarkets,” due to the “great volumes of food that attract many animal species.”» —“Would-be builder says APA biologist ’ended our hopes’ for Tupper apartments” by Nathan Brown Adirondack Daily Enterprise (Saranac Lake, New York) Jan. 24, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha’s savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist who revolutionized our understanding of nature and predicted the effects of human activity on...
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...
Biological Supermarket has also been used to refer to a sex partner whose past habits leave open the possibility of infection with an STD