Thursday, February 14, 2008

Fork me

I'm all down for finding a better way to treat mother earth, but somebody must be smart enough to realize a couple of key things. First, the fork is a key part of the culinary experience for many western civilizations. It's part of our daily lives and language ("put a fork in it..."). Second, there's a structural balance to the fork. Some have three prongs, others have four; but if you've ever had a fork with a missing prong the utensil just doesn't feel balanced in your hand. Third, it's so, so easy to tell when one of the prongs is bent. A bent fork is a sure way to ruin a good meal.

Given my rant, they why oh why would somebody create a biodegradeable fork that quickly violates some of the key tenants of its use?!? I'm working through my glorious breakfast burrito this morning as part of my nutrition "loading" for my road race on Saturday. Upon cutting the burrito into smaller parts my knife hits the fork and promptly saws off one of the prongs! Come on engineers, but the fork and knife have got to work to together. The last thing I want to choke on is a fork prong that might accidentally get swallowed and then take 3 years to biodegrade in my stomach.

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