Survey on food management in institutions

Museums, people and food are closely tied together.  From staff
members' brown bag lunches to the cafeteria to a catered donor
event, food service is a necessity in modern museums and
institutions.  At the most basic level, food vendors feed visitors
and generate revenue.  A strong partnership between museums and food
vendors nourishes people and the delivery of the museum's mission.
The focus on healthy, sustainable nutrition also fits well into the
educational mission of the museum field.

On the other hand, the presence of food in the museum presents a
challenge to the long-term preservation of museum collections.  The
risk of pest infestation and soiling of collections is real.
Incorrect disposal of food waste and insufficient house-keeping both
contribute to pest infestation while food and beverages carried
through areas with collections can spill and soil objects, causing
damage which may not be reversible.

On behalf of the SPNHC Conservation Committee, we feel that there is
currently a lack of documented recommendations in regards to food
management within museums.  Through international collaboration, we
hope to create a set of guidelines that institutions can use to
protect vulnerable collections while supporting food services.  We
have put together a questionnaire (with many thanks to Cathy Hawks)
to help us gauge an understanding of the current condition of food
management within museums and institutions on an international
scale:

    <URL:http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1552943/SPNHC-Survey-Food-in-Institutions>

We would be extremely grateful if you could fill out the following
questionnaire before June 1, 2014.  Your input is integral to the
success of this project.

With many thanks,

Gretchen Anderson and Rob Waller on behalf of the SPNHC Conservation
Committee


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:40
                  Distributed: Friday, April 18, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-27-40-011
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