Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Abigail. Abigail Wonders, “Can you eat ice cream for a living?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Abigail!

It’s a hot July day. You’ve been busy. You spent a few hours swimming, and then you played outside in the hot Sun. Now, you’re hungry for a cold treat. What are you craving? Many kids would say ice cream!

On a hot day, there’s nothing quite like the cool, creamy goodness of ice cream. A couple scoops of your favorite flavor can really make any day better! Wouldn’t it be great if you could get paid to eat this frozen treat? Who wouldn’t sign up for that job? But can you really eat ice cream for a living?

We don’t know of anyone who gets paid to eat ice cream for a living. But there are some people out there who make a living by tasting things. They’re called professional taste testers and, yes, some of them get paid to taste ice cream! Does that sound like your dream job?

Professional taste testing can take different forms. Some taste testers might actually be food scientists who work for food manufacturers. As such, they might take an active role in research and development. They may also help with food preparation and taste testing new products.

Other taste testers might be marketing professionals. They are involved in focus groups that test new food products before they hit the marketplace. These taste testers might sample dozens of new flavors of ice cream during a typical day.

To be a professional taste tester, you have to have terrific taste buds. When a food manufacturer finds a trusty taste tester, they may have their taste buds insured for big money. For example, John D. Harrison is a professional ice cream taster for Dryers. A newspaper report claimed that Dryers insured his taste buds for $1 million!

It might not be possible to find a prime job as a taste tester for an ice cream company. You might have to start in another industry. Could you stomach testing the taste of broccoli all day?

If not, you could always pursue a career that lets you work with ice cream, even if you don’t get to eat it all day long. For example, perhaps you could find a job creating exciting new flavors. Ice cream companies develop new flavors in all sorts of different ways. Some rely upon suggestions from customers. Other companies use researchers to dream up new flavors that will capture the imaginations—and taste buds—of ice cream lovers.

Taste testers and new flavor gurus aren’t the only ice-cream-related jobs to be had, though. Large ice cream manufacturers have positions in all sorts of different areas. They need people to help with tasks from production and packaging to accounting and customer service.

There are also many retail jobs available. If you’ve ever been to an ice cream parlor, you know there has to be someone behind the counter. You could also be an entrepreneur and start your own ice cream shop or make your own homemade frozen treats! It turns out there are plenty of ways to turn ice cream into a career.

Standards: CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.SL.1

Wonder What's Next?

Tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day has some REALLY BIG shoes to fill!