Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Keeping Track of Common Meals

[Judy Baxter (BAXTER]

from:  Judy Baxter, Monterey Cohousing, Minneapolis (Twin Cities), MN

I suspect that what works for a cooking/cleanup system varies a lot
with the size of  the commmunity.  we are at the small end.

At Monterey, we are currently (functionally) 22 adults - cooking 2
meals per week for 15-30.  Plus a smaller group eats whatever
leftovers there are, on Friday, and takes whatever is left home or
throws it out, to avoid "antique " food.  We charge $3/adult,
$1.50/child, and buy meal tickets  for 10, 20, or 30 meals in advance. 
Someone (no system here) checks off the eaters, so there is some
potential for error here with late plates, qucik in and out folks,
etc. 

After many more 'volunteer' based systems, we started a rotation
system 2 years ago after I heard others talk at the Coho Conference in 
Amherst.  People volunteer to cook (we decided that we didn't want
to eat food cooked by people who didn't want to cook). We have had
8-10 cooks, so cooks have their turn approximately once / month.  Most
cook by themselves or recruit a spouse to help - I always find a
co-cook.  Any one who eats regularly  (we are small enough to all know
this) is on the cleanup rotation, 2 cleanup people per meal, 2-3 week
cycle. Cooks buy the food except for staples, and are reimbursed.  It
works quite well, though some of the cleanup chores are not done as
often as some would lik.  It works better than anything else we've
done.

Judy

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Judy Baxter, Monterey Cohousing Community,(MoCoCo) Twin Cities Area, Mpls.,MN
A studio-size coop apt may be for sale in a year,
 a 3 BR townhouse is for sale
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-- e-mail:      baxter [at] epi.umn.edu
15 homes - 7 new townhomes plus 
        8 coop apartments       in the Mansion (a rehab Georgian building)
(built as a retirement home in 1924 -) which also serves as our Common House
coops moved in in 1993, townhomes in 1996
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Voice Mail for Monterey Cohousing - 952-930-7554
 web page: http://www.jimn.org/mococo/ 

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