Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Organic Food and cohousing/ ideological diversity in cohousing (dahako [at] aol.com)

[Sara Bogdanove (sjb]

> Here at Eastern Village, we are just starting to sort out how to show
> each other hospitality while dealing with food preferences from every
> continent, more than 10 major cultural traditions, and a wide variety
> of ideas about what food is healthy (including a member who thinks it
> is gauche to worry more about how healthy food is than about how good
> it tastes).  As the common meal coordinator, I get approached by
> members who want all meals vegetarian, all meals whatever the chef
> wants, separate dishes for various belief systems, all common
> purchasing organic or fair trade.  I think this is pretty neat.

Jessie,

It sounds like you have a great community. I'm not in a community now,
but was involved in the planning stages at one point. And it seemed to
me that common meals removed one of the obstacles to healthy eating,
that is having to prepare a meal each night. My High School sociology
teacher, Mr. Silver, once said that food is one of the most important  
factors
in determining the success of a marriage, so it's not surprising that  
this
principle extends to communities which eat together as well.

Here's another good video about agribusiness: www.themeatrix.com.

Sara Bogdanove
Formerly HomeTown Village Cohousing