On Tue 2015-02-24 15:06:57 -0500, Margarita Manterola wrote:
> I agree with what has already been posted that "None" is a very bad
> idea that it doesn't really convey the meaning. It should be explicit,
> i.e. "Ovo-lacto vegetarian", no None or similar in the string. Please,
> whatever is decided, let's not use "None" for any option.
I'm glad we all seem to agree that "None" really does mean "None" -- if
you have no dietary restrictions, then it does not mean "I must have
meat" any more than "I must not have meat".
> Also, taking into account the data from previous years, I strongly
> believe that the default should be "I like to eat meat and fish".
>
> So, I propose:
>
> Food preferences:
> * I like to eat meat and fish (default option)
> * Ovo-lacto vegetarian
> * No animal products for me (vegan, strict vegetarian)
> * Other (specific restrictions - please contact organizers)
This has been the traditional default choices, just now slightly more
spelled out (replace "None" with the interpretation "I like to eat meat
and fish"). But this is not actually what everyone means when they say
"none", certainly not at every meal, as people have mentioned above.
The concern that i raised at the start of this discussion is that this
array of answers basically encourages people to appear to "demand" meat
and fish, even if they don't particularly want or desire meat or fish at
every meal. This happens at lots of conferences. It leads to more meat
consumption than is warranted by the question because of the framing.
I would still like us to try to not structurally encourage excess meat
consumption, and to encourage our caterers to prepare delicious meatless
food sometimes for those who have no dietary restrictions.
How about:
* I sometimes eat meat and fish (default option)
* Ovo-lacto vegetarian
* No animal products for me (vegan, strict vegetarian)
* Other (specific restrictions - please describe below)
Or if you really think that people want an explicit way to be able to
make sure they don't miss a meal without meat or fish, then let's
actually be explicit about it and bring None back with maybe a little
more clarity:
A) I like to eat meat or fish at every meal
B) I sometimes eat meat and fish
C) Ovo-lacto vegetarian
D) No animal products for me (vegan, strict vegetarian)
E) Other (specific restrictions - please describe below)
But there's no way i know of to determine the correct default option
from past data alone because we've never asked people to split out A
from B before.
I want to be clear that all of this work has to do with planning the
proportions of types of baseline meals; while i want to see the
conference reduce unwanted meat consumption as a whole, i do still want
to meet the dietary needs of people who have specific constraints for
whatever reason (ketonic diets, gluten-free, etc).
If anyone has a dietary restriction that means they cannot eat
vegetarian food (or any other kind of food), i hope they will identify
themselves to the organizers and the caterers so that they do not go
hungry on days when the default options tend in that direction.
Thanks to everyone for this discussion,
--dkg
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