Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Beverly Jones Redekop (beverly.jones.redekopgmail.com) | |
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2018 13:13:31 -0800 (PST) |
Oops -- this is Groundswell Cohousing/Yarrow Ecovillage, an hour east of Vancouver, BC, in the agricultural outskirts of Chilliwack. 33 homes/60ish adults/40ish kids! On Tue, Jan 16, 2018, 11:39 AM Beverly Jones Redekop, < beverly.jones.redekop [at] gmail.com> wrote: > We don't charge either: we just provide our meal and enjoy the meals other > people provide. Homegrown carrots are "free," flour for homemade bread is > cheap, and premade salad from a bag with take-out pizza is "expensive," so > the price of ingredients doesn't correlate all that well to the value of > the meal. > > Each meal in a cycle is provided (cooked/paid) by two adults. In > addition, the group of parents prepares one or two gratitude meals in a > cycle to recognize that some smaller households have fed some larger > households. We used to have a complicated math formula to count children, > but these fun and fancy meals meet our need for fairness just as well. > > On Tue, Jan 16, 2018, 5:10 AM Sheila Hoffman, <sheila [at] > hoffmangraphics.com> > wrote: > >> Greetings all from Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing in Seattle. >> >> To be honest, I've been off this list a long time and one of our members >> asked me to tell about our meal program since I was part of that team that >> created it while we were still forming. I also have not gone back to read >> every single message posted. But for what it is worth, here's our little >> meal program story. >> >> I think there are many right answers and some will depend on the size of >> the >> community as well as the demographics. We are a 9 household community with >> 17 adults and 11 children. We have 2 vegans, about 5 vegetarians and the >> rest are omnivores with some strong preferences for meat too. We also have >> medical food allergies to accommodate. >> >> Last summer a woman named Heidi from cohousing in Australia stayed in our >> guest room for a week and ate with us several times. She declared that our >> meal program is "BRILLIANT!". >> >> Why? How? >> >> We made an early decision while forming that the meal program would be our >> community "glue" or as our founder Grace Kim says in her TED Talk, our >> "secret sauce". We created an expectation during the recruitment period >> that >> everyone would participate in 3 meals a week. With the small size of our >> community this was critical or it wouldn't work. We designed our Common >> House to hold ALL our members with enough room for guests. Our kitchen has >> two ovens and two residential dishwashers. We often have guests. Our first >> Thanksgiving we accommodated about 40 folks at tables. >> >> Initially we created a small team who researched how our area cohousing >> groups did their meal programs. We took notes and talked at meetings a >> lot. >> Most communities do some variation on a theme that includes taking >> reservations, tallying, shopping, reconciling accounts and charging those >> who attended, etc. You know the drill. >> >> We decided we wanted something inclusive and not complicated. We set a >> mission of "nutritious and delicious meals for all" which means we >> accommodate all food needs as best we can. >> >> To make it inclusive our schedule alternates M-W-F one week and then >> Sun-Tu-Th the next. That means if I have a recurring event every Thursday >> I >> still attend 5 out of 6 meals in that two week period and request a >> late-plate for the sixth if desired. >> >> The lead cook sets the menu, posts on Facebook, shops and pays for the >> meal >> ingredients and does the preparation. The 2 assistants come an hour before >> dinner to help with chopping prep and room setup and then stay afterwards >> to >> do clean up. The lead doesn't usually do any clean up. Everyone loves this >> arrangement. If someone can't do their assigned time once or twice it's on >> them to locate a sub and trade. >> >> To simplify accounting we don't track money. Some meals are simple and >> inexpensive and some meals are more complex. It's purely up to the cook. >> It >> comes out of their pocket. We recognize not everyone has the same >> resources >> and that's OK. As long as everyone gets something nutritious and >> delicious, >> we're happy. The value is in being together at meals and not the cost of >> the >> food. We wanted everyone to feel they could bring a guest anytime so we >> always fix more than enough food. That way guests can attend because it's >> an >> extension of your home. >> >> We have a Facebook private Group which we use for a lot of our internal >> communication. It's free and nearly all were already there regularly. We >> use >> the FB group to announce every meal so people can RSVP. That way we know >> if >> people have to miss a meal or are bringing guests. These events are also >> added to our Google Calendar and when someone gets a sub that is noted on >> the calendar so we can always look there for accurate information. >> >> The Meal Team reconfigures the teams every 18 weeks so we get to work >> with a >> variety of community members over time, deepening our connections. In an >> 18 >> week cycle I'll be lead cook 3 times and assisting 6 times. That means for >> the remaining 45 meals I can enjoy a worry-free meal then sit around and >> socialize as long as I want. >> >> Happy to answer questions. >> Hope this helps someone. >> Your mileage may vary! >> >> Sheila Hoffman >> >> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: >> http://l.cohousing.org/info >> >> >> >>
- Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options, (continued)
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Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options Sharon Villines, January 13 2018
- Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options Muriel Kranowski, January 13 2018
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Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options Sheila Hoffman, January 14 2018
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Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options Beverly Jones Redekop, January 16 2018
- Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options Beverly Jones Redekop, January 16 2018
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Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options Beverly Jones Redekop, January 16 2018
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Re: Exploring meal and common space scheduling options Sharon Villines, January 13 2018
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