Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: data on the benefits of cooking together.

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Oct 18, 2009, at 10:34 PM, Daniel Bowman Simon wrote:

> i am looking for data that shows economic, health and other benefits  
> of
> cooking and eating together.  hard data is most helpful, but anecdotal
> evidence is welcome as well.
> also, any photos and rules for such kitchens would be nice to know.

My comment from a community where the kitchen is not a hugely  
successful venture despite the best efforts of many and the existence  
of many wonderful meals.

The central missing link for us is that one person, or 2-3 people, for  
whom the kitchen is central. We have all the people who love to cook  
and those who love to clean but we don't have that person who lives  
and breaths the kitchen to set a tone and organize things.

We have a wonderful landscape of flowers, green plants, and trees  
because we have one super dedicated person who took hold and worked on  
it when no one else did. Now we a have many members who work on it  
regularly. That central person made this possible. The central role is  
now shifting to a team and he is stepping aside a bit but it has been  
almost 9 years before that could happen.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org