Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Organic Food and cohousing

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

In brief, at RoseWind Cohousing (Port Townsend WA), we serve quite a bit 
of organic, but have not adopted it as a requirement or explicit 
expectation. We have done, and periodically update, a survey of members' 
food needs and preferences. In addition to allergies, we learn who is 
vegan, vegetarian, semi veg (many Northwesterners seem to class 
line-caught salmon as veg enough), meat eaters of various stripes. Plus 
preferences regarding local, and organic food. 

On the latter, we have probably a third who strongly prefer organic, a 
third who prefer it "when possible", and a third who don't care. We have 
an excellent local farmers' market and well-stocked Food Co-op, so it's 
easy to obtain organic food. We also have organic vegetables growing in 
our gardens here. On the other hand, for those in the "don't care" group, 
there is a Costco within range and those people find the much-lower shelf 
prices very attractive, or believe those prices allow them to meet the 
cooking budget in a way that works for them. 

We ask that both potluck and cooked-meal dishes be labelled, not only as 
to ingredients, but especially for the cooked meals (on the posted menu), 
as to origin (ie organic, free-range, non-organic, etc), to accomodate 
those who will, for instance, eat some items only if they are of certain 
provenance. 

In practice, as one who strongly prefers organic, I know which cooks tend 
to shop at Costco, and simply don't sign up for those meals. On such 
occasions, and frequently in recent months as I've been on a strict diet, 
I may come to the meal socially, with my own salad supper in hand: nobody 
seems to notice or mind. 

I've seen at least one Costco-oriented cook recently make an effort to 
include organic in the menu. 




Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature)
http://www.rosewind.org
http://www.ptguide.com
http://www.ptforpeace.info (very active peace movement here- see our 
photo)