Garibaldi and garlic

[Jade Jaguar]

In the ep "A Distant Star," Garibaldi wants to obtain garlic, olive oil, and anchovies, in order to make bagna cauda. He is told that these are very difficult to obtain. Well, if garlic is so difficult to obtain, why have we seen strings of garlics hanging for sale in the zocalo, in at least two previous eps?

 

[Ivanova]

Sounds like a Nitpick. *L* They just weren't paying attention to their props, I guess.

 

[Elenopa]

Maybe it wasn't garlic, but just some alien vegetable that 'looked' like garlic.

 

[Recoil]

I also didnt really buy that it was "hard to obtain" out that far. It isn't like a tomato that will spoil. If we can ship garlic across this planet, then it can make the 4 day jump to B5 with no problem.

 

[Demon]

In the ep "A Distant Star," Garibaldi wants to obtain garlic, olive oil, and anchovies, in order to make bagna cauda. He is told that these are very difficult to obtain. Well, if garlic is so difficult to obtain, why have we seen strings of garlics hanging for sale in the zocalo, in at least two previous eps?

Maybe it costs an awful lot if bought in the Zocalo? Too expensive for a poor Security Chief

 

[KoshFan]

Maybe the garlic wasn't the expensive bit. Perhaps the anchovies were the sticking point.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I thought Garibaldi's contact complained that some of the ingredients were expensive, which may mean that the garlic wasn't one of them. Or it could be the the garlic available in the Zocolo, which is probably grown aboard the station, just isn't as good as some of the Earth-grown stuff, or particular Earth-grown stuff. For a once-a-year feast, Garibaldi probably wanted the very best of everything. It's like serving the fancy imported beer or the extra-special imported cheese rather than domesetic when guests come over.

(And, as these examples indicate, even though we "ship things all over this planet", the further they go, the more the cost. The most trivial things are pretty expensive in places like Hawaii, where anything not locally made has to be brought in by ship or plane.)

It isn't so much the 4 day journey to B5 that would make Garibaldi's ingredients so expensive - as well as fresh eggs, bacon and other items mentioned in the series. Part of the cost would be getting the stuff to Earth orbit, generally the most difficult and expensive part of any spaceflight in terms of money and energy. The rest would be competition for scarce cargo space from other commodities that are worth more ounce-for-ounce and cubic centimeter for cubic centimeter - thereby maximizing the profit for the shipper. Even in the 2260s space travel is expensive and difficult. Shipping non-essentials all the way from Earth, especially in tiny quantities, is going to be expensive, just as importing a pint of extra virgin olive oil from Spain or Italy to the U.S. is going to cost more - per pint - than bringing in several thousand gallons of the stuff in a tanker.

Regards,

Joe

 

[grumbler]

I think you are confusing the "B" story stuff with the serious stuff. There is no reason why garlic, coffee, etc couldn't be as readily available for the crew as, well, oranges. I was in the Navy for 26 years, and we never ran short of coffee even on Gonzo Station in the Indian Ocean (a hell of a lot further from anywhere than B5 was). Dairy products were a problem (and eggs, which cannot be frozen), as were fresh fruits and vegetables, but coffee, never.

The idea that space travel is incredibly expensive doesn't really hold up very well, either. I mean, if they could have an Elvis convention on board, it cannot be all THAT expensive. Can you imagine an Elvis convention being held in the 1990s in a place only accessable by Concorde?

I think you just have to accept some of the "B" story stuff with a grain of salt, and recognize that not EVERYTHING is well-thought-out.


But I think that, so long as we are rationalizing this, Joe D has it right, with a further twist of my own: the problem wasn't getting the stuff from Earth to B5, it was paying people to track this specialized stuff down on earth and getting it to the spaceport.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Yes, I realize I was being a bit of a nit picker, but this thing has bothered me for years. And, after the Sheridan and oranges thread, I couldn't resist. I'd just put it down to the set dressers not knowing that garlic wasn't supposed to be readily available, and in large quantities!

I am glad that no one came up with the cheap explanation I expected... that the garlic strings in the Zocalo were artificial, and just for decoration.

 

[grumbler]

I am glad that no one came up with the cheap explanation I expected... that the garlic strings in the Zocalo were artificial, and just for decoration.

I was just about to post the "cheap explanation" that the garlic cloves in the Zoc were there for protection against the B5 vampire (and therefor unavailable at any cost) when I saw your post and decided to refrain.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Perhaps they ward off soul hunters...