SC - A question of concern...

[Micaylah]

Greetings the List,

After giving this alot of thought, and given the thread we have been
discussing on the safety of food handling, I have some thoughts that have
been bugging me for a long, long time.

The first thing I would like to know is whether or not this is a common
practise in other groups. We have in this Canton a box of spices and herbs,
flours, other dried goods and various snippets and hoeys kept in a rough
tote for kitchen stewards to use at their disposal for events and other
requirements. It gets brought to light, oh probably, three times a year max.
It lives in an old basement for the remainder of the time. I have a real,
real problem with this. Am I the only one who does?

Because I do Dragons Revenge every year I pick up our inventory of cooking
utensils, pots and this rough tote of stuff to use. (We have a fairly large
inventory) I will say right now that I REFUSE to use the dried goods and
such for alot of reasons, one being that I like to use fresh for everything.
I have never used it and never will. Calculating the ingredients is not such
a big deal and purchasing a little of this and a little of that is not a
budget blower and I am satisfied that the sugar I am using is not three
years old, the oats I am cooking with are not infested, the herbs I am using
haven't sat in a damp basement and lost their freshness or gone moldy, etc.
etc. etc. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this?

As well, there is the safety factor. Now, while I may not know what the
shelf life of sugar, flour and other dried goods may be, I do know that I am
uncomfortable using them. The end product CANNOT be as palatable nor as safe
as if using freshly bought....right? Point in case, lets say your making
that horribly mint drink thingy that most people like (personal yuck
inserted here). All the mint used was the crap in the rough tote. It has
been there so long and not stored in an airtight container. Mold has set in
and you just served it to someone with a mold allergy. Mold wasn't on the
Ingredients List so the gentle feels comfortable drinking this. GAK, instant
allergic reation. This is just an example, but an effective one nonetheless.

Since I am not the only one who uses this box I cannot just arbitrarily
throw it out (although I did go through it the other day and throw out
several unidentified bags of crap and other old sorry looking things).  What
I would like to do is get a general opinion of the List, some guidance and
perhaps some emphatic replys and present it at a meeting and TRY to dispose
of this box and stop this practise.

I know that when I sit down at a feast that I haven't done, I always wonder
if "the scary box" was used in preparation of this meal, no matter how good
it tastes I have this thought in the back of my mind. When I am cooking, my
rule of thumb is to purchase exactly what I need, (yes I take measuring cups
to the bulk food store) and if there is anything left I keep it. I don't
feel like I am cheating the sca, nor do I feel like I am stealing. Usually
there may be, say, a bottle of corn syrup, a cup of flour etc. when I am
done. I have never had the problem of needing to do an emergency
subsitution, and even if I did, I highly doubt it would be found in the "box".

As well, another opinion on using these commodities, is that you may end up
with a cakload of substandard foodstuffs because the baking powder you used
got damp, or the raisins were just too old and tired, the cinnamon
tasteless, etc. etc. etc.

I would appreciate any feedback anyone may have on this subject. Please be
as eloquent and longwinded as you want, and unless you want it kept out of
the meeting (say so) your esteemed opinions will be presented when I broach
this subject soon. (If I can find the time to get to a damn meeting). I
expect to get some grief from the older cooking crowd as they have relied on
this practise for so long that they may not be able to get beyond it. I sure
hope not.

Thanks
Micaylah





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