Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Good/Problematic Community Meals Programs

[Linda Hobbet (coho]

At Village Hearth, we moved in during COVID so we didn't use the common 
house or have regular meals for the first year.

Now, we have a Meals Team that oversees the meals program. At first we 
recruited people to cook on a week by week basis but it got too hard to  
get commitments,  and a few people were getting burned out.

So we divided almost everyone in the community into 5 squads (6 people 
per squad). We tried to make sure there were at least 2 people who like 
to cook on each squad and one we suspected would be unwilling to 
participate. We have one meal a week on Thursday nights. The teams do 
everything - plan the menu, shop, cook, set up, and clean up. Squads 
rotate weeks and the sixth week is a pot luck.We have one member whose 
job is to collect and manage the money.

The menu is posted and emailed at least 4 days in advance.

Sign up is on a paper list in the common house, or you can email one of 
the squad members. There is also an option to be automatically signed up 
but you can opt out for a particular meal if you will be unable to 
attend. If you signed up, you are expected to pay even if you don't attend.

The cost is $5 per meal, paid in cash at the door. Everyone who signed 
up pays for the meal, including the squad members for that week, which 
has helped us keep the cost as $5. The shoppers submit receipts to the 
money manager for reimbursement. The money collected also pays for some 
basic staples - flour, rice, sugar, olive oil, and a few other things.

We have a list of members' allergies and deal-breaker foods. 
Fortunately, no one here has a life-threatening allergy. We have a few 
vegetarians, and a few who require gluten-free diets. No vegans right 
now. A few members require diets that are too complicated for us to meet 
on a regular basis.

The squad chooses the menu. They are not required to meet everyone's 
requirements, but squads usually try to include options for those of us 
who eat anything (the majority), vegetarians, and gluten-free. Meals 
pretty much always include a dessert. Meals may be anywhere from simple 
to elaborate, from Costco lasagna to made from scratch. They often have 
themes, such as Moroccan, Italian, African, etc. The meals have all been 
delicious!

We typically get 20 to 24 diners every week. We are a 55+ community with 
34 residents currently.

Almost everyone participates, even many of the people we expected to 
decline. Some of the non-cooks or cooks who didn't feel confident to 
take on the main responsibility for a meal are learning skills and there 
are tasks for the members who don't want to be involved in cooking.

One unexpected benefit has been that members have been lingering after 
meals and socializing for longer. They don't feel the need to jump up 
and help clean because they know it will be taken care of.

The meals team also takes charge of organizing a few events - 
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Pi Day. Occasional special 
brunches. We had a Memorial Day cook out/pot luck. They may be asked to 
provide snacks/lunches for workshops. A lot of socializing here revolves 
around food :-).

So far this has been working pretty well for about 2 years.

Linda Hobbet
Village Hearth Cohousing
Durham, NC

On 6/12/2024 3:00 PM, Patricia Bailey wrote:
> Cohousing ABQ in Albuquerque is looking for input from other communities on what has 
> worked well or not worked well when it comes to policies or programs around Community 
> Meals. Lots of factors to consider! We’re working on getting our policies in 
> place prior to construction getting started later this year. Your experience in this 
> area would be greatly appreciated!
>
> Pat Bailey
> Cohousing ABQ Membership Team
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://L.cohousing.org/info

--
VillageHearthCohousing.com
706-202-7178
coho [at] lindahobbet.com

"When you plant a seed of love, it is you that blooms.”
                                                   Ma Jaya