Cohousing-L Mailing List: Request for meals info offline

[Jennifer Taub (jennifer.taub]

Hi,

I can't really keep up with list volume, but I am trying to complie
information about how different coho communities make their meals system
work.

So far, we have had a smattering of community meals, but it's inconsistent
and entirely a volunteer effort. We've had one recent offshoot of a "private
dinner club" that meets 2x/week in our GR and provides meals for 4-5
households in that group. They are running smoothly, but other households
are only included by personal invitation only. Attempts to start a second
group haven't worked (no one wants to commit; some are concerned about being
in a small group with others with dietary restrictions).

As for full community meals (actually, weeknight "community meals" tend to
be attended by 12-16 which is a nice size). We are a coho community of 30
households (about 1/3 with kids). We've been trying, but have a few big
barriers:

1) Most adults work FT and aren't available to cook in the daytime to have a
large meal ready by 6:30 or so.

2) Several attempts to integrate meals into our work system have been
unsuccessful. Many people don't want to do the extra work that doesn't count
towards community hours. We've tried and tried to work on this one (and will
even be having outside facilitation around our work system). I am convinced
that this isn't the direction for us to go, but it's a huge barrier.

3) Some people are intimidated by some of the large meals that have been
produced by people who are talented cooks.

4) Even when people do take initiative to prep a meal, often people don't
want to sign up till the last minute because they don't know what their
schedules will be like.

I'm interested in offline replies (much easier for me to find and sort
through), but will understand if you want to post to the list as well.

Thanks in advance - Jennifer