I use plastic as my mulch. I cover the entire garden since I run drip lines so the weeds are kept at bay and the soil heats up earlier and stays later in the season. It also helps to keep produce from getting dirty by keeping it off the soil and not allowing dirt to splash when it rains. A couple of my food safety measures I take to keep my produce clean and safe.
Ducks are good buggers but I think Guinea hens are the best, I just hate their digital sounding scream.
The food safety is a problem mostly because animal manure is included. People often overlook the consequences of the design. Certainly, it is not sustainable to throw away hundreds or thousands of square meters of plastic mulch every year. I love straw, for me it's easiest to work with of all mulches! :)
There are now bio degradable plastic mulches. I just got an email about a demo near Spokane next month where they will be showing them off. I reuse my plastic year after year and get about 4 years out of 4mil black plastic.
It is quite interesting the various mulches that work best for everyone.