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We should look for someone to eat and drink with before we look for something to eat and drink." ~Epicurus
July 20, 2008 -- Thinking of feeding the Playa people this year? Is it your "American Dream" to impress your
fellow Burners with your culinary prowess? Do you want to be the proud chef of the finest eating establishment
in Black Rock City? Or maybe you just want to provide a place for dirty hippies with the munchies and danced-out,
half-starved ravers to wash down a grilled cheese sandwich with warm Kool-Aid laced with mushroom tea?? Either way,
this article provides valuable information to help ensure that your food sharing camp is legal and up to par.
In order to legally run a food-sharing camp at Burning Man, you will need to apply for a temporary food vendor permit
from the State of Nevada, the application is available for download here:
http://health.nv.gov/BHPS/ehs/ehsdocs/TempApp.doc.
There's a $50 fee to receive this permit, unless you're a
religious, charitable, or other nonprofit organization, in which case a tax exempt certification or identification
number is required and the cost drops to $25.
In addition to this, if you are bringing large amounts of propane you will need to notify Harley, Earth Guardian
Extraordinaire, at hramazon [at] burningman [dot] com, so she can get you set up with a BRC permit and notify the
fire department if there's an emergency.
The statutes for food service to the public in the state of Nevada can be read online at
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-446.html But they
are, to quote an esteemed colleague, a long hard read.
To save you a little time and a lot of headache, I contacted a couple of people with experience running a food
sharing camp, people who've been there, and done that.
The Pancake Playhouse is one of the most well known camps on the Playa, and a great place to have a little
breakfast after dancing the night away! Even the Health Department loves them, check out what they had to
say about them on page 12 of its official report on Burning Man 2005 here:
http://health.nv.gov/BHPS/ehs/BurningMan2005.pdf
Cara (Miss Kitchin) Despota, of the Pancake Playhouse, was kind enough to respond to my emails and provided
the following information. She wrote: "First off, Pancake Playhouse does not store any perishable food, so I
don't know anything about that. We use only bagged batter mix and water. Oh, and industrial-sized Log Cabin
Syrup too! We have to get a health permit at home, before we leave. Once there, it must be on display before
we can start serving. Some years, the Health Dept. comes every day. Other years, it's less often. Each time
they visit, they go down a checklist and give us an overall health score. If we have problems, we have to
address them, and then the Health Dept. comes back the next day to check up.
Some things we have to do:
1. Store all mix, syrup, and water off the ground. We use shelves for this.
2. Cover the floor of the kitchen with tarps or carpet.
3. Everyone in the kitchen must wear a head covering.
4. Servers must wear gloves and use tongs.
5. We may not accept donated items to serve the public.
6. We must wash dishes in a mixture that includes bleach.
7. We must have a designated hand washing station."
When asked if she had any funny anecdotes she'd like to share, Miss Kitchin had this to say:
"hmmmmm, funny anecdotes, eh? It's all such a blur... ;) Seriously though, I do remember one year ('03?) when
a girl came by with a really ragged mullet haircut, she'd "lost" at the haircut roulette camp, and made a special
pancake-related request. Judging by the obvious brilliance of the haircut stunt, we should have seen that this
was a bad idea, but Pancake Playhouse aims to please. So we put down a tarp, had her lay on it, covered her with
piping hot flapjacks, and poured syrup all over her bikini-clad body. Why? Well, she asked for it. But it was gross,
and she didn't look all too happy about it once the Log Cabin started flowing. Oh well, it made for a weird and
wonderful photo opportunity. The other funny thing I can think of has to do with gifting and bartering at Pancake
Playhouse. Our camp has chose to gift food because people need it and also because there's something special about
getting a hot meal on the Playa. We don't encourage bartering however, because we don't necessarily *need* a lot of
the things that people see fit to gift. Regardless of this, we tend to collect a lot of donations, and this inevitably
ends up meaning a lot of scraps of logoed paper, candy, plastic stuff, and... rocks. "Rocks" you say? Oh yes. Loads of
them. Big, small, shiny, garden-variety, you name it. So one year, a campmate had the brilliant idea to collect all of
the gifted rocks in a sock. On the final day of serving pancakes, we hung the sock up in the kitchen, and invited all
potential rock-givers to forgo their hot breakfast, and instead treat themselves to a nice flogging with the appropriately
named "rock sock." The rock sock has since become a yearly tradition at our camp, and one that Pancake Playhouse loves
dearly. Look, we know you crazy Playa kids love us. And we love you too. But we also won't hesitate to beat you with your
own rocks. ;)"
I also contacted Gigi (insert last name) from the Random Pizza Experience camp, who may not be as loved by the Health
Dept. as Pancake Playhouse, but who receive more than their fair share of lovin from hungry Burners! The following is
taken from Gigi's email, presented in interview form:
Lonestoner: Hello Gigi, thank you for responding to my query! If you could take a moment to answer a few questions, I
would greatly appreciate it! By the way, you guys are awesome, Random Pizza kicks serious ass!
Lonestoner: What would you say was the hardest thing about running a food sharing camp?
Gigi: Now that we've had four years of working out the kinks, it's pretty easy. The first couple of years it was hard
to get the ingredients just right so we didn't run out, but then the Playa always provided! Making sure we have one or
two campmates to man the operation is hard. No one likes to commit. We've finally come to the conclusion that if no one
is motivated, we just don't open til someone is. Hungry Burners don't like to take NO for an answer. People are constantly
asking when we will be open. It's probably easier if you don't advertise... open when you want to be. At Random Pizza
Experience, we had an easy answer to our hours of operation: "We are open randomly."
Lonestoner: What was the most rewarding thing?
Gigi: People are so thankful! They love you. They bear gifts. They remember you from year to year. They are willing to
help with cleanup, even if they've shown up too late for food. You meet great people. Our first year we spent a lot of
time in camp because it was so fun. Let the Playa come to you!
Lonestoner: What advice would you give to first-timers to help them prepare for and pass inspection?
Gigi: The Health Dept. is really nice and easy to deal with once you know the rules. And if you get lax about it, you
can always play it off if they suddenly show up for an inspection. "Why aren't you people wearing gloves?!" Pretty much
all they want is, a hand-washing station (see below), dish washing station (a three bucket system; soapy water, water
rinse, and bleach/water sanitize), you must close every four hours to clean the whole kitchen, and store perishables
six inches off the ground. Simple.
Lonestoner: Is it true that you aren't allowed to store food in an RV's refrigerator or freezer? I heard it was
considered a "home" and therefore unacceptable. If so, how CAN you store food, are coolers okay, are there temperature
regulations?
Gigi: I've never heard that about RV refrigerators and haven't read that in the Health Dept. paperwork either. Coolers
are fine to store food and we never had trouble keeping up on the ice by buying every other day. When we've been
inspected, they would just say, "It looks like this cooler could use some ice," but they wouldn't shut us down for
it. Also, we only kept pretty stable stuff. No uncured meats or egg salad, etc. I've heard some camps get a fridge
that runs on propane... and one five gallon tank lasts the whole week.
Lonestoner: What type of handwashing setup do you normally use?
Gigi: Hand sanitizer, baby wipes, and plastic food service gloves. I think technically you need water, which we provide
as needed and upon request. Keep in mind that at RPE, participants, not camp members, are preparing the food. Because of
the high volume, we do the gloves. But technically camp members are only required to wash hands with soap and water.
Lonestoner: Have you ever experienced any problems from the Health Department, law enforcement, or unruly or impatient
Burners?
Gigi: The Health Dept. has been super cool. Yeah, we've been shut down, but they tell you how to comply and all you have
to do is fix what they require and you are back up and running... even the same day. Labor Day weekend there is a huge
chili cook-off in Reno with real paying customers who expect a restaurant level of clean. It's just not the case on the
Playa. If a Burner is grossed out by your kitchen, they will probably not eat. So, in other words, the Health Dept. has
better things to do.
Lonestoner: Anything else you'd like to share?
Gigi: There is some great food at Burning Man. It's the perfect gift. You use up what you bring and don't have to cart
it home. Plus, there is always something to eat for your own camp. We never get tired of pizza.
-Food and drink do indeed make the perfect gift, for we can not survive without them. In a way, you are giving the gift
of life, and what could be better than that?
"Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon." ~Doug Larson
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