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And those biodegradable utensils have a distinct taste that ruins whatever you're eating.

I would prefer, perhaps on environmentalist principle, the move from a plastic spoon to a biodegradable spoon. Nonetheless, I have a hard time arguing that moving from a re-usable and re-washable material like metal could be couched in anything other than the cost of watching such things get thrown out or removed from the shop, and not on environmental grounds.

My answer - get a cone. It's biodegradable, and while it certainly does have a distinct taste, it doesn't really ruin the taste of my ice cream.

I don't mean to get all negative nancy here, but as someone who loves ice cream, gelato, custard, etc., I have to post to say that never once have I thought that my experience was diminished by eating my treats with a more earth-friendly utensil. In fact, after reading this and thinking about it, I completely agree with Alexis Miesen, and I think the biodegradable spoons have a nice mouthfeel to them that is better than plastic, which is what most places traditionally serve. Sorry, but I really don't think the metal spoon adds anything positive to the experience! ...I actually think sometimes it conducts the coldness of the ice-cream too much, to be honest. Maybe washable metal is the most earth-friendly of all, but putting aside the environmental argument, I actually enjoy the experience of eating with the corn-based scoopers. And this coming from the girl who still wishes Coca-Cola was sold exclusively in a glass bottle, go figure. Guess I'm not old-school about everything.

Isn't it better for the planet to just reuse the metal spoons?

Used spoons can be found at any rummage sale/flea market/etc. And all the ice cream shop needs to do is sterilize them and then provide a dish basin for customers to bus them, then they wash 'em.

Am I missing something?

I like the little wooden paddles. The plastic ones, like Adam said, often hurt when you purse your lips to get the ice cream out of the dip of the spoon. I've never had that with the flat wood, and I don't think I've ever gotten a biodegradable one (I usually eat soft serve cones, and the yogurt place I go to has plastic)

yayfood, I think the issue with using metal (or at least solely metal) utensils is that many customers take their ice cream away, and thus away would go all those metal spoons. My local, Molly Moon's, has only a few tables but has lines out the door. I don't think there's enough Goodwill utensils in Seattle to keep up with that, cost aside!

That said, how hard would it be for places to have metal in-house and biodegradeable to-go utensils? I suppose it would depend on what washing-up infrastructure the place already has.

Our local hospital cafeteria uses the biodegradable utensils, but they're replacing plastic, not metal, and a high-volume cafeteria seems the right place for this.

On the other hand, our local recycling program handles mixed plastic, paper, and metal, so it's possible plastic utensils would be more earth friendly than it appears.

This is also one more allergic contact for people with corn and soy allergies

if I have that problem with spoons I'd bring my own spoon.
My favorite type of spoon is BAMBOO.
it's light, doesn't absorb any smell, doesn't affect acidic food by adding metallic taste.
This one's made just for ice cream (not sure what the difference between "dessert spoon" and "ice cream spoon").
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/shuchikudo/1000000012340/

A fond memory for me is eating those little cups of ice cream in styrofoam containers with those little wooden paddles for spoons. The tiny bite it forced you to take somehow made the ice cream better to me.

The place where I work tried switching to the corn utensils a while ago. They melted in hot foods and broke under the weight of cucumber slices. We have since gone back to plastic.

No.

Well, metal isn't necessarily an option if people are taking the ice cream to go. I think most ice cream shops do a lot of (or even exclusively) take out...so they'd have to choose between traditional plastic and biodegradable plastic.

I don't really prefer the mouthfeel of either metal or plastic. I do however prefer the sturdiness of metal in digging through ice cream. It's quite annoying when the plastic spoon is so flimsy you have to struggle to get a spoonful of ice cream.

We did the author even bring up metal spoons? Yeah, if you're in a restaurant where you're less likely to walk off with or throw away the spoon, then by all means give 'em metal spoons. Why aren't we talking about glass dishes? Because it's just plain stupid, that's why.

The question should be "Which do you prefer plastic or biodegradable?" If your answer is plastic, then there's nothing I can do for you. I'm with the others, if you're not eating a sundae, then get a cone.

Count me in the camp of those who like the mouth feel of the Blue Marble spoons. I'm also not a metal spoon lover; they do conduct too much cold sometimes, and sometimes I feel like I can kind of taste the metal and/or the soap used to wash them.

And knowing the spoons are from corn (along with their velvety feel) makes me want to attempt to eat them for some reason. (Yes, I know they're not edible like that.) I'll take that as a sign that I need to up my order from two mini-marbles to three!

Redfish,
A couple thousand plastic spoons X all the people on earth WILL destroy the planet.

I very rarely get a cone...just don't care for the taste or texture of cones very much (not waffle cones or those cake cones either). Don't like 'em made with chocolate, don't like 'em dipped in chocolate, and don't like 'em with sprinkles. I prefer to get a bowl. And sometime's they'll charge an extra $5 for one (a flattened piece of dough is very rarely worth $5 to me).