I'm not going to say definitively whether china or plasticware costs more, but in general, I doubt an LSA would actually know the true numbers. An LSA knows how to account for foodstock and revenue, but they're not going to know the total carrying costs of one FTE (full-time-equivalent) on every train on a route for an entire year, including overhead costs (benefits costs, extraboard costs to replace someone who marks off, training costs, etc.). It's doubtful they would even know the exact amount Amtrak pays for the plastic or china.