From: ilaine@panix.com (Liz Stokes)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Feasts and diet restrictions
Date: 10 Apr 92 19:52:58 GMT
Organization: PANIX - Public Access Unix Systems of NY

In article <9204101327.AA17006@ellis.bedford.progress.COM> schuldy@bedford.progress.COM (Mark Schuldenfrei) writes:

>I'd like to raise a couple of points for discussion.  For one,
>there have been several times where I've quietly bought an on-board
>fare, for the privilege of sitting where I'd like.  This seems like
>a waste of money and food.  Second, several times when I have gone
>off-board, the off-board tables are very second class (at the far
>end of the hall, in the basement, in another room).  Away from the
>entertainment, the toasts, most of the revelry.
>
>Can anyone think of good solutions to this?  How do other people
>cope with extreme food allergies, or dietary restrictions?  Do
>the folks that leave the site for dinner do so because off-board
>space is unpalatable?  Other questions abound.

	Hi Tibor!

	The last time I ran an Event was a while ago (Come As You Aren't, 
Nov. '88) and you may have been in Trimaris then. Caitlin feast'cratted
and I worried about seating. I put the tables in two rows along the sides
of the hall, and the off-board table was at the bottom of one side, and
they all had tablecloths. I think that worked out, because they weren't 
any farther from the entertainment that the on-board tables on the opposite
side. 
	I would have been happy to let off-board people sit anywhere they
liked. I think honor systems work in the SCA. The problem comes with
calculating how much food to make for each table. I don't recall how many
tables there were, but let's say, for ease of math, that it was 10 tables of
10 people. 9 on board and 1 off. That makes 9 roasts of beef, 
9 Marlborough tarts, etc.
	If on-board is mixed with off, you have 10 tables to feed and making
food for 1 less person per table won't really work because people won't sit
that way. I know you know all this, I'm just spelling out the problem for
pedantry's sake :) An autocrat could make enough food to feed the 10 tables,
and there will be leftovers. You wouldn't individually be paying for food
you didn't eat, but everyone on-board would pay a little more.
	I went to EKU in Concordkia in December. They had a school cafeteria
and everyone came with their feast gear to the kitchen and carried food back
to the tables. A similar process was used at EK Coronation the other week for
lunch (I couldn't stay for dinner). This would solve your problem nicely,
but it isn't very aestheticaly pleasing to march into a brightly lit
cafeteria toting your feast gear. 
	If all the food were easily portionable (roasts carved in the kitchen,
pies pre-sliced) and you had enough servers who would serve instead of just
bringing bowls to the table, you might be able to do it. Have a crew of three
servers handling three tables. Each would have one dish sufficient for three
tables minus three people and would serve that dish to all three tables. The
law of averages would make things work out ok most of the time. The traffic
on seconds isn't nearly as large as for firsts, so the remaining food could go
on a sideboard where everyone could get it.
						just adding to the confusion,
							-Ilaine



-- 
Liz Stokes         |    Ilaine's EZ-garb workshop:
Ilaine de Cameron  |
                   |    "First, take a sheep. Start with a small one ..."
ilaine@panix.com   |