Cohousing-L Mailing List: VEGAN COHOUSING MEETING

[fire (fire]

I was asked to forward this to the cohousing list. Would anyone 
interested kindly contact Billy Ray Boyd (e-mail address in meassage) and 
not me.
Thank you
Rochelle Del Gunter
Amsterdam.
 
> PRESS RELEASE -- PRESS RELEASE -- PRESS RELEASE -- PRESS RELEASE 
> 
> February 12, 1996  
> 
> Contact:  Claudia <+1-415-751-8791> or Billy <bboyd [at] ccsf.cc.ca.us>
> 
> 
> VEGAN COHOUSING - SAN FRANCISCO
> 
> Seven persons were present at the Vegan CoHousing Planning Group meeting 
> in San Francisco on February 10, 1996. The next meeting is scheduled for 
> March 23. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this planned community 
> is that common meals will be vegan.
> 
> "It's a drag always being accommodated as an afterthought, if at all," 
> says vegan Claudia Delman, who works for the Physicians Committee for 
> Responsible Medicine. She and two other group members have been involved 
> in other cohousing planning efforts.
> 
> Not all members of the group, though, are vegan, or even strictly 
> vegetarian. "We're not interested in enforcing a 'party line'," says Mary 
> Anne Cutaia, herself vegan, "but we do want the community to be a really 
> vegan-friendly place."
> 
> The group has drawn up a statement of basic principles and goals, 
> including diversity, affordability (purchase and rental units), 
> democratic decision making, cruelty-free common-use products, energy and 
> resource conservation, and smoke-free common air. Detailed policies are 
> being left to later, as the group grows and develops.  The EcoVillage 
> movement is also being looked at for ideas. 
> 
> The goal is to develop a cohousing-ish community in San Francisco or 
> within easy commuting distance by public transport--or to join with 
> another group that would feel compatible with the members' basic 
> principles. 
> 
> Meetings are monthly.  For information, call 415-487-6335 or email 
> bboyd [at] ccsf.cc.ca.us.  Long distance calls will be returned collect. 
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> Notice to San Francisco Bay Area residents 
> and prospective residents:
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> New CoHousing group forming - San Francisco area - vegan common meals
> ______________________________________________________________
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> A general meeting to continue discussion of options for establishment 
> of a cohousing community with vegan common meals in the San Francisco 
> area.
> 
> WHAT:   meeting and snackluck -- bring a vegan snack to share,
>         preferably homemade. Tea provided.
> 
> WHERE:  349 Church Street, near Market St.
>         between 15th and 16th Sts.
>         San Francisco
>         Near Church Street Metro station. Also accessible by Market
>         Street busses and above-ground tram, or bus 22. Bicycle
>         parking in garage. Car parking on street is tight but
>         possible.
> 
> WHEN:   23 March 1996
>         2:30-3:00 p.m., gather
>         3:00 to 5:00 p.m., meeting
> 
> RSVP:   415-487-6335
>         bboyd [at] ccsf.cc.ca.us
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> WHAT IT IS
> 
> First developed in Denmark, cohousing is now spreading across the U.S. It
> combines the best of both worlds--privacy and shared living. It's *not* a
> commune or a shared household, though both individual living and shared
> households can exist within a cohousing community.
> 
> In cohousing, each person or family has their own self-contained house
> (or apartment). In addition, there are spacious common areas and a common
> house (or, if apartments, a common large shared room) that serves as a
> community kitchen, dining hall, and place for hanging out and special
> events. Physical design and layout maximize opportunities for casual
> social contact outside the private homes. Cars are generally kept at a
> distance from living units.
> 
> Many American cohousing communities accommodate vegans somewhat, and at
> least one has all-vegetarian common meals. Still, shared meals can be a
> problem.
> 
> This new group is based in the San Francisco area. It involves a network
> of over a hundred people around the U.S. (plus a few abroad) interested
> in developing and living in vegan and vegan-friendly cohousing
> communities and eco-villages.
> 
> If you're interested in this way of living, please read the book
> CoHousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, second edition,
> by McCamant, Durrett & Hertzman, Ten Speed Press.
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> VEGAN COHOUSING - SAN FRANCISCO
> 
> Founding principles and initial policie
> adopted November 24, 1995
> Draft 24nov95
> 
> Vision statement
> We wish to live in a healthy, ecological, supportive, and humane
> environment, for our own benefit and as an experiment and a model for the
> informing of public policy on these issues. We wish to live cooperatively
> while retaining the benefits of privacy. Cohousing, first developed in
> Denmark and now gaining popularity in the United States, seems to us to
> best satisfy this balance and to recreate community structures and values
> which are a necessary context for healthy families and individuals. We
> will continue to explore cohousing concepts and communities and consult
> with cohousing residents and designers, adapting others' experiences to
> our own needs and those of the larger community.
> 
> Diversity
> We are committed to making strong efforts to have the cohousing community
> reflect the racial, ethnic, age, sexual, and family-status diversity of
> San Francisco.
> 
> Affordability
> We are committed to having the community as non-discriminatory as
> possible on the basis of income, and will explore funding sources,
> financing schemes, etc., toward this end. We will make all reasonable
> efforts to ensure that at least some of the units are rental, for those
> unable to purchase.
> 
> Decision making
> All decisions will be made by consensus, and all decisions and policies
> may be changed by consensus, except that the fundamental principles of
> ecological and humane living shall not be subject to change. If consensus
> proves impossible, change may be made by a 3/4 majority vote only through
> a series of two three or more meetings at least one month apart, and for
> which all members have been notified at least one week in advance. These
> meeting shall not be scheduled in order to exclude certain members.
> 
> Preferences
> We will give preference to persons who (in order of importance) (a) who
> are able to relate will with others in principled decision making in
> which the viewpoints of all are considered; (b) who are in alignment with
> the goals of the community as set forth above; (c) who meet current and
> diversity, income, and any other established criteria; and (d) who may
> have difficulty in normal social life because of following values which
> for the basis of our community.
> 
> Shared meals
> Any shared meals of the community, and any food prepared, stored, or
> served in community facilities, or bought through collective efforts of
> any community members, shall be entirely plant-based, for reasons of
> ecology, health, efficient use of food-producing resources, and
> maximizing food resources available to those in the United States and
> other parts of the world with little economic clout.
> Shared meals shall be planned to take into account current medical
> knowledge of health related to food; cultural traditions; and personal
> taste preferences and food philosophies.
> There shall be no restriction on what foods the residents may keep and
> prepare in their own living units, but in keeping with our founding
> principles no animals, including fowl or fish, may be kept or killed on
> the premises for the purpose of food. A companion-animal policy shall be
> adopted as early as possible in the process of community formation,
> taking into account both founding principles and potential residentsU
> existing companion animals.
> 
> Products
> All products used or bought by the community shall, to the maximum extent
> practically possible, be both ecological and cruelty free (involving no
> animal testing and using no animal ingredients; RanimalS here includes
> fish, fowl, and insect life forms). In evaluating products and activities
> on ecological standards, we will consider not only immediate factors such
> as biodegradability, but "hidden," longer-term factors such as the
> processes that went into its production.
> 
> Noise
> In the words of former U.S. Surgeon General William H. Stewart, "Calling
> noise a nuisance is like calling smog an inconvenience. Noise must be
> considered a hazard to the health of people everywhere." We do not wish
> to make an obsession of being quiet, but we do want to shield against
> too-loud and unwanted sounds, especially mechanical and electronic
> sounds, through selection of site, design of buildings, use of sound
> insulation between living units, etc.
> 
> Energy
> We wish to minimize use of non-replaceable energy sources through
> conservation and through use of energy sources which do not deplete with
> use (e.g., solar).
> Our automobile-based transportation system is ecologically unsustainable,
> especially as car use becomes wider spread (democratized) worldwide. We
> seek to minimize both car ownership and car use as much as possible, by
> creating incentives within our community for various car-sharing schemes
> and for use of bicycles, public transportation, and more efficient,
> quieter, and less polluting energy sources (e.g., electric cars).
> 
> Smoke
> We will do all practically possible to ensure that commonly breathed air
> remains free of smoke and other substances irritating or harmful to
> respiratory health, including tobacco smoke, barbecue smoke, and
> woodstoves and fireplaces.
> 
> Child rearing
> We recognize a diversity of child-rearing philosophies, and respect all
> of them that respect the psychological and physical integrity of
> children. Adult authority over children must be exercised with care and
> discretion, and we are opposed to any surgical removal of healthy body
> tissue from children. We are committed to drawing up further guidelines
> based on the general principal of respect for the physical and
> psychological integrity of all members of the community, including children.
> 
> Adopted November 24, 1995
> ______________________________________________________________
> 
> 


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