Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: cooking rosters

[David Hungerford (dghungerford]

Muir Commons meals organization:

1)Each meal has 2 cooking (we have roughly 40 adults) and 4 cleaning slots

2)Each adult (usually) cooks once and cleans twice
"double cleanings" are allowed (i.e. a person does both cleanings on one
night, usually with another person doing a "double" as well)

3)people pair off and sign up to cook & clean on a wipe-off calendar kept
in the common house, usually before the end of the prior month (two
calendars, current and next month, blue pen cooks, red pen clean, green pen
reserve CH space). Cleaners sign up after the cooks.

4)we try not to have more than 5 meals per week so as not to end up with
meal-free weeks.  In summers we usually have fewer meals b/c people are out
of town, and often don't cook the month they vacation.

5)weekend brunches are okay, and enjoyed immensely by many people, which is
nice for those whose work schedules are so heavy or inflexible that weekday
cooking is out.

6)menus are planned by the cooks and listed on a xeroxed "sign-up sheet."
These sheets have:
        *a grid listing all households in the leftmost column, with
#adults, #kids, #meat (if meat option avail.), #veggie (if available), and
# late (cooks prepare late plates in microwaveable containers and store
them in the 'frig) in the other columns--so a family signs their
preferences in their "row."
        *a detailed menu area which allows for ingredient lists
        *a list of food allergy/avoidance items (e.g. dairy, wheat, garlic,
eggs, soy, onion . . . )which cooks are supposed to circle so no one will
sign up for a meal they can't eat
        *the date, time, and "sign up by" date of the meal
        *a tally sheet on the back for cooks to list their expenses for the
meal (which is then turned in to the meals committee to tally the meals
eaten and the money spent)
        *a space for children's art, which changes monthly

7)we maintain some bulk items (and of course, condiments, spices, etc.),
but cooks shop for their own meals AFTER taking their sign-up sheets down
(usually 24 hrs in advance) so they know how many to cook for.

8)meals are charged at a monthly average, determined by adding the total
spent by cooks + bulk purchases, divided by the total number of meals eaten
that month (kid meals count as 1/2 meal).  Average cost varies between $2
and $2.50/meal.  there has been some concern of late about rising meals
prices, which we aren't sure whether blame on people are cooking
differently (more meat? more organic?) or just rising prices.  Each family
receives a bill for the # meals eaten multiplied by the average, with their
own meal expenses (from when they cooked) subtracted.  Those who eat a lot
end up paying at the end of the month; those who eat infrequently end up
with a credit, which they can leave on account or get a reimbursement for.
A meals committee member uses Quicken to keep the accounts.  Yes, it takes
lots of time, and the job has been passed around more than most.

9)Flexibility is the key word.  We had some very tough discussions early on
about whether monthly cooking/cleaning was *required,* *expected,* or just
a *guideline.*  We've decided to trust that people will contribute as much
as they can given the way their lives are going at the time, and not expect
that anyone is trying to "free-ride,"  and guess what, it's working--not
perfectly, mind you, but pretty well.

David Hungerford
Muir Commons, Davis  CA
dghungerford [at] ucdavis.edu

David G. Hungerford
dghungerford [at] ucdavis.edu