Re: Kitchen Labor Equity
From: Stuart Staniford-Chen (staniforcs.ucdavis.edu)
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 12:02 CST
N St's meal system is very voluntary.  At the beginning of the month 
everyone signs up with a cooking partner for which date they wish to cook.  
The number of meals per week thus ranges from  two to four.  We try to 
discourage more or less than this, but it does happen once in a while.  
Sometimes people forget to sign up at the beginning of the month and then 
add their meal to everyone's copy of the calendar later.

We are each supposed to cook once a month if we eat most of the meals.  If 
we eat fewer meals, then we are supposed to cook about every eight meals.  
Someone who doesn't eat at all is not expected to cook.  In practice this 
doesn't cause a problem: a few people don't get involved, but enough of us 
do that it is a much-valued institution.  I guess I'd say that people who 
don't cook or eat cause occasional mild concern about why they don't choose 
to be involved, but it's never been a big issue.  We have no accounting of 
how many meals are cooked or eaten - there's a general culture of trusting 
everyone to do the right thing overall and not sweating the exact details.

Dan Suchman writes:

> used (or not) by some participants.  One of my criticisms of the system is t
> it causes adult participants without children to subsidize (with their labor)
> adults participants who have children.  At Winslow, children (whether 3 years
> old or 17 years old), are not required to work in the meals system.  Nor are
> their parents scheduled to work any more frequently on account of the 
> additionalmeals eaten by their children.  

We have no requirement for children to cook, so I suppose that we have the 
same inequity.  I've never heard anyone complain about it though (and since 
I'm not a parent it's likely I would have if they were).  We have had serious 
disagreements over other aspects of the kid issue.  I don't know why it's not 
a problem when Winslow does apparently have a problem.  I don't think we 
think about how our meal system works any more - it's an ingrained habit.  
I guess (speaking purely for myself) that it would seem a little ungenerous 
to be carping over having to cook an extra five or ten small meals, when 
in general I don't have to do any work associated with kids because I don't 
have any.

I wonder if the adult to child ratio is a factor?  A typical meal would have 
20-25 adults and maybe 5-10 kids here.  I guess if there were a lot more 
kids, that might make a difference.

Lately, several of the older kids have taken to cooking once in a while.  
I believe this was done on their own initiative.  Usually they do it 
in association with an adult.  This is a *really* pleasing trend, not 
because it corrects some perceived inequity but rather because it's neat to 
see them taking their own place in the community life.  They cook very 
different menus too (they have strong opinions about some of the food that 
adults cook).

> was wondering what people in other groups might think of the way that 
> Winslow handles this issue, and whether you folks might have any 
> comments or suggestionsto offer.

I'd say that if it's a problem, get the older kids to cook. 
There doesn't seem much point in making parents cook more often than non-
parents when the former already have less free time.

Stuart.
  • Kitchen Labor Equity Dan Suchman, March 5 1995
    • Re: Kitchen Labor Equity Stuart Staniford-Chen, March 6 1995

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