SC - Alcohol and Kingdom Legislation

[Gedney, Jeff]

> From:	L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt [SMTP:liontamr at ptd.net]
> >
> >> > SCA funds (e.g. shire ) finds are not allowed to purchase alcohol
> >> making
> >> > materials per the most recent interpretation of the original bad
> >> policy. :-(
> >> >
> >> > Ras
> >> 
> >My opinion then is to operate the guilds as independant entities from
> >the group.
> >There is no bar to the Guild taking the name of the group, as long as
> >iit is not funded by, or operated by officers of, the local group.
> >As long as all donations of money and materials comes from OUTSIDE
> the
> >offices of the local group, the BOD ruling does not apply to guilds.
> >The SCA corpora does not list a guilds among the official structures
> of
> >the SCA, and groups them with (I believe) Households. 
> <snip>
> >Brandu
> >
> 
> My queston is now this: As a cook am I considered an officer (assuming
> I
> hold elected office---remeber that and autocra is considered an
> officer for
> the time s/he serves), and if so, would I be in error to donate the
> wine for
> a particular dish that was not subjected to heat (i.e. not evaporated
> and
> therefore technically not for "cooking" purposes)?
My considered opinion is that you are an officer as long as you are
attending, or participating in an official SCA activity.  You may not be
"On Duty", but the law states nothing about that. It is regretfully
unequivocal. As a cook, you are probably going to be considered a deputy
to the Autocrat, so, you actions will probably be considered as coming
from his office, technically. That means that both of you would get in
trouble, even if you held no elected office. 
I think that this law as stated is unequivocal as applied to cooking or
serving at events.

> This would substantially alter (already has altered) the face of
> period
> cooking in the SCA. Whole slates of dishes are now "off limits" unless
> one
> can find a substitute for the alcohol. 
In twenty years in the SCA, I have not seen more than a few dishes
served at events that contain uncooked alcohol. 
I am not sure what "Whole slates" you are speaking of. I do not think
that the statute applies to alcoholic beverages used as flavorings and
cooked off, as (IMHO) that interpretation would then also apply to the
use of flavoring extracts, which often can be as much as 100 proof!. I
think that the spirit (ironic use of that word<g>) of the rule is
intended to apply to the presentation of alcohol itself to persons at
events who may have allergies to alcohol or may be recovering addicts,
or minors. 

	<snipped>
> Every recovery process begins with taking responsibility for one's
> actions
> (can you tell I am married to one of the State's leading experts on
> addictions? He is the Director of the largest Therapeutic Community in
> the
> United States, which happens to be in a correctional facility). 
How often have you gone to an event and knew all the ingredients of a
food that you ate? 
It is often the case that *complete* ingredients lists are not provided.
"Taking responsibility" involves a knowledge of the consequences of your
actions. That may not be a reasonable assumption. 

	<snipped>
>  I feel very strongly that we
> cannot become the BIG BROTHER of everyone in the SCA. The individuals
> must
> assume liability for their actions, and as long as they KNOW the
> dishes
> contain alcohol (that's the cook's job---to get the menu out there
> with
> ingredients lists, and answer queries in advance on the subject if
> necessary), then as far as the SCA should be concerned, the bases are
> covered. 
> 
As I said, above, How often does this happen? Not as often as you think.
Many times this info is scrawled in a notebook and left in the Kitchen,
and interested people have to go and search it out.  And "asking the
cook" is no guarantee of inforamtion, either.  There have been times
that I have asked the cook at an event if there any nuts in the feast,
and been told no, only to have the cook say " I didnt think that you
meant walnut oil!" as my ex-wife is getting treatment for anaphylactic
shock! (her allergy is damn severe). also many commercial items like
cake mixes and pie shells have ingredients that are often not listed.  I
remember having to leave an event because there were hazlenuts in the
crust of a fruit tart, that was not included in the ingredient list.


	This is as simple as what cooks everywhere are already doing:
	putting their contact information in the event announcement. In
this way, if
	anyone needs to know, they can simply ask the cook what is in
the food. I 
	have done it countless times, and will likely do it countless
more.

In my Kingdom (the East) there is no requirement to publish this contact
info in the event announcement. The Cook can even be completely
anonymous.  And Ingredient lists are not required, just considered
polite.
Should the BOD require this info for all events as well? And if so, how
does one make last minute substitutions to the menu?
Where does it stop?  I do not approve of the law, but I understand it,
and I do not find it an unreasonable requirement.
To have it apply to cooking wine as a flavoring in hot dishes is, in my
mind an unreasonable and unjustified extrapolation of the ruling.


Brandu
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