[Sca-cooks] More from the newby

[Decker, Terry D.]

> While the rest of the advice was good, I must object to this
> concept of
> "don't worry about leftovers".  Of course, one must plan
> enough food to be
> able to feed the feasters, and a little more (actually, in the
> hotel/restaurant industry, it is standard practice to prepare
> 10% more than
> needed).
>
> Yet, I should like to think we don't promote non-necessary
> throwing out of
> food.  There are enough hungry people in our country, and the world,
> wasting food on a grand scale just doesn't sit well with me
> (and I'm not
> being particularly PC for the sake of PC'ness).  If the
> advice is:  "There
> will be *some* extra, and that's ok, plan for it", I'm in
> agreement.  If it
> was, as it sounded to me: "Make lots of food, don't worry
> about having too
> much, as long as you can feed all the feasters", then I'd be cautious.

When preparing a feast, one works to a menu and a budget.  The intent is to
prepare the number portions defined in the budget of the dishes defined in
the menu.  Everything in this plan is an expendable commodity, the value of
which is being risked against the return from the paying customers at the
feast.  As with a restaurant/caterer, the plan is to cut waste and be able
to meet excess demand while breaking even or making an acceptable profit.
While the primary goal of the feast steward may be artistic, a feast is also
a commercial venture where a feast steward contracts to provide a specific
service to the group at a specific price.

While waste of food and money can be reduced by planning and astute
purchasing, the actual wastage from the feast is hard to control since one
can not command people's appetites, guarantee a sell out, completely prevent
freeloaders, etc.  If one tries to eliminate the wastage, some of the people
at the feast will be short-changed.  So, forget about the leftovers, see
that people are well fed and work to ensure that the feast does not lose
money.  The latter provides better waste control than worrying about
leftovers.

I firmly believe in "making lots of food" and making it in great variety, so
that no one leaves hungry and everyone will go away knowing they got full
value for their money.  However, this "lots of food" is in accordance with
budget and within the parameters of the contract.  If the feasters aren't
all fed, then the feast steward has not provided the service for which they
have contracted.  I've seen too many feasts short-change people on quality
and quantity to excuse it on basis of reducing waste.

I find the "starving Armenian" argument specious at best.  The argument as
expressed does not quantify "non-necessary throwing out of food" and
"wasting food on a grand scale."  The point of the argument is to impose
guilt over some alleged offense, in this case "wasting food while those poor
people starve."

Those "poor people" are going to starve whether or not an SCA feast wastes
food.  There is more than enough food to feed the planet, waste or not.  The
problems are in excessive cost between production and distribution, lack of
efficient distribution channels, and the political desirablity of
starvation.  Feeling guilty doesn't do much to solve these problems, but it
does help support the administrative budget of some rather inefficient
charities.  If anyone feels guilty, I'd recommend getting directly involved
with working toward a solution, rather than trying to lay the guilt off on
other people.

It is my experience that a lot of the wastage from a feast doesn't go to
waste.  Excess meat, bread, cheese and desserts either help support a tavern
or disappear during the night.  At my last feast, the primary excess was
sweet potatoes and roast beef.  Since the sweet potatoes had been served, I
tossed them.  The unserved roast beef disappeared in the night, probably to
fuel the "dancing elves" or "whirling dervishes" who had taken over the
feast hall.  That feast had approximately 480 pounds of food, of which about
30 pounds was thrown away.  I don't see that as being exceptionally
wasteful.  As everyone was fed and a small profit was made, I wasn't
concerned about the disappearing roast as it would have been tossed if it
hadn't been eaten.

>
> BTW, before planning on donating prepared food to shelters and/or
> foodbanks, I'd check your local and state regulations on the
> matter.  Several places have laws against this, unless the food was
> prepared under specific conditions, which, usualy, feast kitchens
> don't/can't meet.  It's a sanitary issue.
>
> Muiredach mac Loloig
> Rokkehealden Shire
> aka
> Nicolas Steenhout

This is good advice.  Here in Oklahoma, we have 20 percent of families with
income below the poverty line and 25 percent of Oklahoma youth living in
those families.  Local foodbanks tend to readily accept prepared food which
has not been served and has been kept under proper refrigeration.  Several
years ago, I was able to provide one with about 15 loaves of bread and 4
roasts which did not get served when the expected number of feasters did not
put in an appearance.  They helped provide Sunday dinner for several
families.

Bear