[Mtgvenue] Food (was: Re: comments on draft-ietf-mtgvenue-iaoc-venue-selection-process-04)

[Dave Crocker <[e-mail]>]

On 1/30/2017 11:05 AM, Stephen Farrell wrote:
> So I've no problem with medical issues (as in your case)
> being mandatory or treated at the same level as
> accessibility or whatever is correct.
>
> I don't however think the same applies to cases where the
> dietary restriction is a choice. That's not because I
> want to make anyone's life harder, it's just that I think
> there's a slippery slope there of choices that people
> could make.


Taken to its logical extreme, this might mean choosing a venue that has 
no acceptable choices for vegetarians.  Or for those who don't eat pork. 
  Or...

It is not reasonable to ignore the matter entirely, nor is it possible 
to accommodate all possible needs and preferences with detailed 
requirements.  Hence we have to find a balance between these extremes.

The current text was developed rather carefully and was the result of 
quite a number and variety of discussions seeking to strike a pragmatic 
balance.

If someone proposes changes to these bits of text, I strongly urge them 
to offer specific alternative text and very clear explanation for what 
makes it superior.

In particular the explanation should consider what benefits accrue and 
-- perhaps more importantly -- why the detriments are acceptable.

By way of example -- and I stress this is meant only as an example -- 
agreeing to Stephen's suggestion that Section 3.5 be made Important 
rather than Mandatory means that we could wind up at a venue that only 
serves pork and has no alternate sources of protein.  Silly?  In the 
particular, perhaps, but in terms of making attendance largely 
impossible for people with serious dietary restrictions? Not really.

The implicit view that these are matters of choice and, therefore, 
should be treated as secondary, misses both the fact that they are not 
at all a matter of choice for many folk, and that for many others, the 
choice is an integral part of their life.

Again, we cannot accommodate every detail for everyone.  So the text 
seeks to make things reasonably comfortable for a useful range, and 
reasonably tolerable for others.

d/
-- 

   Dave Crocker
   Brandenburg InternetWorking
   bbiw.net