African American Museum -- food not allowed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I did contact the museum by email and this is what they said, "We adhere to the Smithsonian policy which is that “bag lunches and beverages that are properly closed and secured may be carried through the museums or stored in lockers during your visit.” However, you may not consume your bagged lunch in the museum."

This is the policy at all the major Smithsonians, so I'm glad to see that they are reasonable. Of course, no one should be eating while viewing the museum... that is obvious.

Reason wins over rigidity.

It was always a reasonable policy. The rigidity was in acting as though you were not able to just accept the policy because you didn’t want the cafeteria experience.

Are you slow? The policy on the African Amer. museum website is wrong. I am happy to notice conflicting information and not blindly accept misinformation from fools. That's not "rigidity." That's assertiveness in alerting them to the conflicting info.

[Anonymous]

National History says no food to be brought in either...We spent a fortune in their cafeteria area last month. They have to make money somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The main site for the Smithsonian museums says that properly secured bagged lunches and drinks are allowed in all the museums. Yet the African American FAQs says that food/drink isn't allowed.

Confusing.

This is dumb.

And discriminatory.

OP here: And apparently, it's wrong. I guess they want to discourage the stupid people from munching on snacks and sandwiches as they learn about lynchings. Sigh. At least I found out the real answer. And contrary to one of the know-it-alls in the previous postings above, you CAN take food into all the others when it is in your bags. We've done it at Natural History and American History multiple times. And apparently, we will be able to do it at African American History too!

I'm confused.

So what was the source of the wrong information?

And, can you just bring your own sandwich and open it in the cafeteria?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:National History says no food to be brought in either...We spent a fortune in their cafeteria area last month. They have to make money somewhere.

My family was in town for spring break, we checked the policies if the museums. Most of them ban food.

OP doesn't like that. If she had a baby or were diabetic or had some other reason to need food, she would have said so. She just wants to go against the museum's stated policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:National History says no food to be brought in either...We spent a fortune in their cafeteria area last month. They have to make money somewhere.

My family was in town for spring break, we checked the policies if the museums. Most of them ban food.

OP doesn't like that. If she had a baby or were diabetic or had some other reason to need food, she would have said so. She just wants to go against the museum's stated policy.

+1. And she's weirdly hostile about it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:National History says no food to be brought in either...We spent a fortune in their cafeteria area last month. They have to make money somewhere.

My family was in town for spring break, we checked the policies if the museums. Most of them ban food.

OP doesn't like that. If she had a baby or were diabetic or had some other reason to need food, she would have said so. She just wants to go against the museum's stated policy.

+1. And she's weirdly hostile about it too.

oh my goodness. Did you miss my post which was a direct quote from the museum staff? It says that they follow the general Smithsonian policy that ALLOWS people to bring in food that is bagged or wrapped. Yes they allow it. Yet, their website (for the African Amer. Museum) says they do not allow it. The Smithsonian website says that bagged food is allowed. Bottom line: the African Amer. museum website not allowing food or drink at all is WRONG. Why they have it on their website wrong is anyone's guess. You can bring food and drinks that are in your bags into the African Amer. museum -- just like you can do at the other Smithsonians (at least Natural History and American History).
https://www.si.edu/visit/tips
"Bag lunches and beverages that are properly closed and secured may be carried through the museums or stored in lockers during your visit."


https://nmaahc.si.edu/visit/faq
Are food and drink allowed in the Museum?
No food and drink is allowed in the Museum.


When questioned about which rule applies they said, "Thank you for contacting the National Museum of African American History and Culture. We adhere to the Smithsonian policy which is that “bag lunches and beverages that are properly closed and secured may be carried through the museums or stored in lockers during your visit.” However, you may not consume your bagged lunch in the museum.

So, I was right (in expecting that we could take bagged lunches inside). The info on the NMAAHC website is misleading (and most of you who wanted to criticize me for wanting to take bagged lunches were flat out wrong.). cheers!

[Anonymous]

It's the museum policy. They each have their own websites and policies. Different policies, if you look at the websites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the museum policy. They each have their own websites and policies. Different policies, if you look at the websites.

They shouldn't, as public and taxpayer-subsidized museums.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:National History says no food to be brought in either...We spent a fortune in their cafeteria area last month. They have to make money somewhere.

My family was in town for spring break, we checked the policies if the museums. Most of them ban food.

OP doesn't like that. If she had a baby or were diabetic or had some other reason to need food, she would have said so. She just wants to go against the museum's stated policy.

+1. And she's weirdly hostile about it too.

+2. I don't get the hostility either. Then again, anyone who goes to this much trouble over a bagged lunch probably has some issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The main site for the Smithsonian museums says that properly secured bagged lunches and drinks are allowed in all the museums. Yet the African American FAQs says that food/drink isn't allowed.

Confusing.

This is dumb.

And discriminatory.

OP here: And apparently, it's wrong. I guess they want to discourage the stupid people from munching on snacks and sandwiches as they learn about lynchings. Sigh. At least I found out the real answer. And contrary to one of the know-it-alls in the previous postings above, you CAN take food into all the others when it is in your bags. We've done it at Natural History and American History multiple times. And apparently, we will be able to do it at African American History too!

I'm confused.

So what was the source of the wrong information?

And, can you just bring your own sandwich and open it in the cafeteria?

I'm not OP, but: You cannot "bring your own sandwich and open it in the cafeteria." Or in the lobby or the exhibit spaces.

You CAN have that sandwich stowed away in your bag because you plan to eat it later somewhere else outside the museum. Not in the museum. Not even in the museum cafeteria.

You have a picnic with you? Wrapped up? Fine. You can carry it through the museum wrapped and in your bag. You just cannot eat it inside the building. The cafeteria is for people buying food and is not a picnic space for those with outside food. This is all clear in the language the OP has quoted from the Smithsonian. The confusion earlier was that the African American museum's site seemed to forbid even carrying food with you. That is wrong--you can carry it for your later use but cannot eat in the building.