Friday Fish Fry

[Veridicus]

So one of the parishes in my diocese has a weekly Friday Fish Fry during Lent every year. This church is located north of Evansville, yet it draws in 1,000 to 1,200 people each Friday. They have parishioners who volunteer to make the fried fish, potato salad, green beans, dessert, etc. for this event and it is an excellent fundraiser for the parish.

My point of contention, and what I would like the opinion of PMers about, is that the side items of this fish fry contain meat. The German potato salad has bacon in it and the green beans have ham chunks. It has always seemed rather scandalous to me that a Catholic parish is selling meat to 1,000 Catholics for $8 a plate during the Fridays of Lent. I mean they call it a fish fry and fish is the main course...but the side items are home-made and they add the meat themselves. I don't think that refraining from the bacon and ham in the side dishes would impact the turnout to the fish fry...and yet they use meat.

Am I just being scrupulous about this or is this a rather scandalous way to raise funds for the Church?

[Marie-Therese]

I don't think you are being scrupulous, but I don't think it is necessarily scandalous, either. Most people probably prepare the recipes they have always made without a lot of thought to the ingredients, so it is probably a well-intentioned mistake.

If I were you, I'd just put in a kind word of recommendation with the pastor or the Social Director for that parish and let them know your concerns. If they get a heads up with some time to spare, they can let those involved in food prep know to be vigilant about keeping all meat items out of the food chosen for the event. I am sure that the matter is much more about oversight than anything else. I mean, why go to all the trouble of a fish fry in Lent if you were offering ham sandwiches as an alternative? LOL If the matter was brought to their attention I am sure they would probably facepalm and then let those contributing dishes know to keep them meat free.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Marie-Therese

[KeenanParkerII]

Hm. I don't even like the idea of eating fish. I only go with it because the Church says so. This, however, strikes me as very wrong. The idea of abstaining from meat is to suffer and sacrifice a little, not enjoy gourmet veggie meals with meat sprinkled side dishes. Take it down from the inside Veridicus.

/rant

[Sister Marie]

That is very interesting. I wouldn't say that it is scandalous. It just seems like it was overlooked. I think Marie-Therese is right that if it was brought to their attention, someone would be able to give a gentle reminder about meat in the dishes. One Friday during Lent, the Sister in charge of meals put out bean soup... she didn't even think about the fact that it had ham in it. We all laughed about it. Accidents happen.

God Bless
Sister Marie

[Veridicus]

[quote name='KeenanParkerII' date='14 February 2010 - 01:32 PM' timestamp='1266175947' post='2057136']
Take it down from the inside Veridicus.
[/quote]

LOL. Mostly it just seems strange to me that out of the thousands of people that go every year...I'm apparently the only person concerned with it. I mean in all other respects they are a really good parish. I would have assumed one of their 1,200+ parishioners would have thought about this...they've been having the same menu on the fish fry for a decade...

Edited February 14, 2010 by Veridicus

[Apotheoun]

It does seem odd that they would add meat to the side dishes.

[KeenanParkerII]

[quote]LOL. Mostly it just seems strange to me that out of the thousands of people that go every year...I'm apparently the only person concerned with it. I mean in all other respects they are a really good parish. I would have assumed one of their 1,200+ parishioners would have thought about this...they've been having the same menu on the fish fry for a decade...[/quote]

Selective observation!

[Veridicus]

EDIT: so apparently they tried it without for a while and it DID hurt their business so they started using meat again to keep the sides more palatable. Now what?

Edited February 14, 2010 by Veridicus

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Veridicus' date='14 February 2010 - 12:52 PM' timestamp='1266177122' post='2057146']
EDIT: so apparently they tried it without for a while and it DID hurt their business so they started using meat again to keep the sides more palatable. Now what?
[/quote]
How do they know it hurt their business? Do they advertise the fact that there is meat in the side dishes?

[Veridicus]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='14 February 2010 - 02:13 PM' timestamp='1266178413' post='2057155']
How do they know it hurt their business? Do they advertise the fact that there is meat in the side dishes?
[/quote]

No they do not advertise. I asked another priest about it and he said they refrained from using meat for a couple of years and they had diminished attendance/revenue. Apparently when they added the meat back in their attendance rose again.

[CatherineM]

We have meatless soup. Last year on my turn, I made Jamaican black bean. It came out the color of squid's ink. No one would touch it until our pastor tried it, and he just about ate the whole thing. He was from India, and was used to spicy, strange looking food I guess.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I don't care how unpalatable their food is without meat, it's Lent!

We have cajun fish fries. Nice, spicy fried fish and/or shrimp, french fries, and hushpuppies. Even in our mission diocese, they have hundreds and hundreds of people show up every week.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Veridicus' date='14 February 2010 - 01:18 PM' timestamp='1266178717' post='2057161']
No they do not advertise. I asked another priest about it and he said they refrained from using meat for a couple of years and they had diminished attendance/revenue. Apparently when they added the meat back in their attendance rose again.
[/quote]
That is strange, because I actually dislike meat in those particular dishes. I tend to pick it out if I can, and if I cannot do that I simply refrain from eating the potato salad or green beans.

[KeenanParkerII]

Wow. Disregarding the principles of lent for a slight boost in attendance. The plot thickens.

[Veridicus]

Well we will not be attending anymore. You vote with your wallet as my Econ prof always said. I'm not voting for meat on Fridays, even if I can pick it out.