[Sca-cooks] Feast costs/budgets

[Dragon]

PKSARGE at aol.com wrote:
>Concerning the cost for feast:  I find it reveling that the same folks who
>often quibble at the cost of a multi course, well prepared meal, usually with
>entertainment, will soon after leaving the site stop for lunch at a chain
>restaurant (i.e. Denny's or Cracker Barrel) and spend two or three 
>times what they
>spent on feast.
>
>I have done a couple of small feasts (80-120) and  helped keep the cost down
>by using some of the following:
>     1. Talking with the manager of the meat department at my favorite store
>and ordering in advance.
>     2. Shopping "specials", 2 for 1 and seasonal close-outs (lamb after
>Easter)
>     3. Soliciting donations of game or fish. (give recognition to donors and
>others often step-up)
>     4. Purchase in-season fresh fruit and vegetables directly from local
>farmers.
>
>If the groups we are working with are unwilling to increase fees for feast to
>cover the costs then we have an ethical obligation to inform them that
>quality and quantity will suffer. (you get what you pay for)

All great ideas, one thing we have here in connection with the 
cooking guilds in the Barony of Calafia is a membership to a 
wholesale restaurant supply (Restaurant Depot). With the non-profit 
status of the SCA, getting memberships to such types of stores is a 
snap and they really help significantly with controlling the costs of food.

>On another but related topic. The first feast I did on my own I had done all
>the research, planning and most of the purchasing (using up most of the
>budget) when I was informed, the weekend before the event, that I 
>was also expected
>to prepare breakfast for Saturday and Sunday, all out of the same 
>budget. When
>I questioned this I was informed that it was a standard expectation in our
>Kingdom (Meridies). I satisfied this commitment but it was an 
>extremely long day
>and if not for a very dedicated staff feast would have suffered. I have done
>a couple of more small feasts since then and have made accommodations for
>breakfast. Is this a standard practice throughout the SCA? I find 
>that this really
>impacts my focus on feast and would like to find some way to pass on
>breakfeast. Should I consider a written contract that specifies my 
>"services" for for
>feast?

That has never happened to me. In my experience so far, each meal is 
a separate entity with it's own budget.

A written agreement spelling things out to the letter may well be a 
good idea and I would also suggest that the event stewards should 
consider separate crews for different meals. Expecting people to do 
multiple large services in one day is both unfair and extremely 
exhausting. We all do this for fun, it is not a job.

Dragon

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  Venimus, Saltavimus, Bibimus (et naribus canium capti sumus)
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