# Over-large portions = Gannet

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-large-portions-gannet/998447>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 4, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-large-portions-gannet/998447 "2024-03-04T17:02:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-large-portions-gannet/998447/61 "2024-03-06T17:33:06Z")

</div>

I think I recall the name. Smorgasbord’s had their heyday in the 1960s. Some of which were more than just buffets.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-large-portions-gannet/998447/62 "2024-03-06T19:47:33Z")

</div>

> [@doreen](#):
>
> If I book a 100 person event, there will be enough food for 100 people. Probably a few more - but if 30 people take two servings of chicken marsala then some people won’t get any.

And they’ll guess what the size of a reasonable serving is based on most of the people they cater to.

I go to organic farming conferences. The first year at a new venue there’s never enough food – because the facility’s used to serving conferences of office workers. Construction workers apparently have the same problem, and I would guess that athletes do also. People doing a lot of physical work need to eat more than people who don’t.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-large-portions-gannet/998447/63 "2024-03-06T23:08:03Z")

</div>

Sounds like the organizers dropped the ball if they let the venue talk them into making that mistake. The venue maight start out by assuming normal portions, but the organizers _know_ different. Unless they’re oblivious.

But yeah, you’re surely right that some sorts of audiences eat very differently from others.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [March 7, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-large-portions-gannet/998447/64 "2024-03-07T01:41:12Z")

</div>

> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Sounds like the organizers dropped the ball if they let the venue talk them into making that mistake. The venue maight start out by assuming normal portions, but the organizers _know_ different. Unless they’re oblivious.

I think it’s more likely that the organizers tried to tell them, but the people running the kitchens thought ‘we know what we’re doing, why are these people trying to tell us how much food to make?’

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-large-portions-gannet/998447.md?page=3)