Ice cream anyone?

I quite like ice cream. I still miss a certain ice cream shop  in London. (Londoners will know which one I mean but naming it would be advertising and I am not sure I can do that.)

In the hall of residence I lived in there were a small gang of us who would occasionally head off late on a Saturday afternoon to "the ice cream place" and buy that delicious,  creamy, sweet, cold  treat. It was good stuff, better than anything I'd tasted here in Downunder - apart from one brand.

We have our own brand in this state. It is actually made in this state. It is good ice cream, very good ice cream. It has won awards for its excellence. I have known this ice cream since kittenhood.

In kittenhood this ice cream was a very rare treat, a once a year treat. It was only available in one place unless you lived where it was actually made.  Given the choice between "fairy floss", a toffee apple or the ice cream we always chose the ice cream. It was special, very special.  They actually sold it in two flavours, vanilla and honey. It was the honey flavour which was so special.  It was sold at the state's annual agricultural show. Even our mother and the Senior Cat would indulge. 

We would sit on the grassy area near where it was sold and lick our single scoop cones around and around. This had to be done carefully so as not to waste a single drip. It was gone all too soon of course but we knew that, all being well, there was "next year".

They still make that ice cream. They still make it in the same place. Now they make more of it and it is available in supermarkets across the state. It is free of palm oil and other nasty things. It is very popular.

So why did the state's zoo decide it would no longer stock it? They have tried twice before to do this and each time there has been outrage. This time they have attempted to do it more quietly. Of course they have been found out. Claims that another company, a multi-national company, could provide ice cream more competitively have not been well received. One of the "things" about going to the zoo is apparently to have ice cream - and people want the local product. It is part of going to the zoo.

I don't like zoos. I didn't like them as a child. I won't mind if I never set foot in another zoo. But if we are going to have zoos then surely they should be places which support companies that support efforts to save endangered environments. Palm oil free ice cream might not seem much to some people but it was an environmentally responsible move by the ice cream company. It is one which many, perhaps most, people who visit the zoo would have been happy to support. 

The zoo has lost a "golden" opportunity. If you know your ice cream here in Downunder you will know which company I mean.