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yeah, that's a ridiculous statement. who charges $5 extra for a cone? i don't think i've ever paid $5 total for ice cream even for a big sundae.

I definitely think that metal spoons are the way to go and this blog, (or at least the comment section), has inspired me to carry my own utensils when I go out. (Easy for a girl since we have purses!) And I have a friend who has a metal issue with wooden spoons. It's not exactly a phobia, but he gets serious hee-bee-jee-bees when someone, anyone uses a wooden spoon!

Down with plastic!!! I can't wait to go yard sale-ing this weekend to find some cool utensils!!!

Holey, Moley... I didn't even know there was such a thing as spoons made from corn. Boy, those Iowa farmers sure know how to promote a product!!! ;^)-

'Course I don't go out much for ice cream... freeze it myself in that place I keep the frozen veggies and ice cubes in. Doing triple duty with the freezer compartment and tastes great... AND I know what ingredients are in it. (I do remember vaguely how the wooden spoon made the flavor of the ice cream taste different... way back then... in my rapidly receding youth. (sigh)

I'm with the wooden spoon/paddle supporters. Those were fun.

What a terrible idea. We haven't even addressed this country's poverty situation; until everybody can afford food, why increase the cost?

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.

I don't think a fat tax is very practical - there are several things wrong with Pigouvian taxes in general. They are hard to calculate because it is impossible to determine the exact amount of externality caused, in this case by obesity, and they affect different people in different ways! Here is an article about why a fat tax wouldn't work: http://www.mindreign.com/en/mindshare/Global-Economics/Fat-Tax/sl35291137bp387cpp10pn1.html

I have to comment here. I am an obese man that has been unemployed for a while now, and I have very little money and have not had much money my whole life (growing up, my family of 10 had little money). What I don't understand is why people think that low-income people eat a lot of fast food. If this is true, then that means that the vast majority of people that have a low income are pretty dumb too or are too lazy to cook. Why should I spend $5 on a fast food "value" meal when I can buy a package of Knorr Noodles and Sauce for $1 at Wal-mart and also get more food? Also, for those of you that say that people should be eating more fresh food, vegetables, etc, here is what I say to you: do you realize how expensive produce is? For me to buy even just a couple items to make a salad would cost me enough money to feed me in other ways for at least a week. And, no, I don't just eat the noodles and sauce. Yes, a lot of what I eat is inexpensive, starch-based food, but I don't have much choice, financially. I do occasionally buy lean ground beef when on sale and make burgers at home. I can make 8 quarter-pound burgers with buns for about $5 and that will give me 4 meals. In closing, I just wanted to say that obesity does not mean eating fast food and that having a lower income does not mean eating fast food, but I do think that obesity and low income do somewhat go hand-in-hand.

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.

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/

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

I also want to point out that the person that made the comment at the Economist, as well as 95% of people out there, don't use BMI correctly. BMI should not be used as an individual level tool to see if you are overweight or underweight, as all the examples given (Lance Armstrong, Football teams, etc...) have shown. BMI is a good population level tool where you can have large populations. So, comparing Portland to Seattle on BMI is a fine use, or two high schools, but not two people.

The media likes to use BMI because it's simple and anyone can calculate it, and there isn't a good alternative out there. When used by researchers to show that the average BMI is increasing, it has value, but basing a tax off of it would be a horrible idea.

@ginger -- OK, replace right to privacy with the expectation of privacy from government intrusion that is implied by the fourth and ninth amendments..semantics.