Feast stewart at the crossroads was Re: [SCA-cooks] Pulled sugar

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> I'd really like to hear the opinions of those more experienced, but off the
> top of my head I'd guess this has to do with a couple factors.
>
> One is that the feast cost at most events is often large in proportion to
> the event cost.  A $10 (or $15 or $20) food cost for a $5 event seems
> disproportionately large on first glance, regardless of the economic
> realities involved.

Depends on whether it's a camping event. However, it is often the sum of
the event costs that ends up looking large. If the weekend cost for the
site is $15, and you add a $10 feast fee to that , that's $25 per person.
If you are talking a family of 4 (over the half price age), that's $100
for the weekend.

Also, people have this construct in their minds of the 'starving college
student' that has no money. More accurate are the families with small
children, but most of them aren't really in a position to go to feasts
anyway because of the dynamics of feeding and seating small children.

> Perhaps more significant, though, is the Prix Fixe nature of most feasts.
> People who do many events on a tight budget can't decide to save a few bucks
> and order just burgers or salad at a feast the way they could in a
> restaurant.  It's an all-or-nothing proposition.  Perhaps something we cooks
> should consider more for large events...

Most SCAdians also don't consider that with tip and so forth, they are
usually paying $10-$20 a person for food when they go to a diner.

I think a bigger issue is that people aren't sure they will like
everything at a feast... and they don't compare it to a buffet meal...

Also, there's an issue that we _know_ we can feed people until they burst
for $6 and for $10 we expect major stuff.

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa   jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
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