1. Cooking and Eating Together

Fred Lanphear
The heartbeat of Songaia takes place around community meals. This is a time when members can check with a gardening team-mate as to whether the seeds have been ordered. It is when Songaians get to choose whom they would like to talk to over dinner. It is also where the kids and adults show up together in both creative and spontaneous ways. And, on Monday evening, before the meal, it is a time for Songaia to do what it loves to do even more than eating – we sing!

During the first months of living together we made a critical decision that has set the tone for our community eating patterns. Those of us who had been living together prior to construction knew that it was possible to eat most of our dinners together. The newly formed food committee, affectionately dubbed, the Fabulous Food Folks (FFF), proposed to the whole community that we experiment for three months with five meals per week, four dinners and brunch on Saturday. Members agreed to pay for three months on an experimental basis. The FFF encouraged members not to concern themselves with fairness, but rather to focus on the value of the program. At the end of three months, the FFF asked, “Are you getting enough and are your food needs being met”?

Before two months had gone by, most of the fears about why the program wouldn’t work had been addressed and there was a growing confidence that we could sustain it on an ongoing basis. That confidence was well-founded as the food program continues basically as it was established. Every so often, someone raises an issue, and we go back to the question of “enough” and /or how can we make it work better for you? There were small problems but none that seemed insurmountable.

For a variety of reasons, most cohousing communities do not eat together as often as we do, varying from one to three meals per week, or as infrequently as once per month. Although these communities have fully equipped kitchens, there is reluctance to commit to the responsibility of purchasing and preparing for frequent meals. Some communities do not imagine a support structure that handles purchasing of foods, so therefore it becomes the responsibility of the cooks. Some communities rely on potlucks to bring them together.

Here is how it works at Songaia. On Saturday morning someone from the FFF posts a new sign-up sheet for meal preparation and clean up. Saturday morning, before or after breakfast, is often a good time for folks to choose which slot they want to take in the next two or three weeks, At any one time, there are three weeks of sign-up sheets posted. For the program to work, it requires that each person sign up for one slot per week, choosing from the two cooking and two clean up slots. The person who signs up for lead cook must submit their menu to the FFF by Thursday evening so the committee can do the inventory of the pantry and decide what has to be purchased on Friday morning.

The food purchasers continually work at becoming more proficient as well as selective, based on our criteria for buying foodstuff. There are three kinds of purchasing; bulk buying, weekly shopping to meet menu needs for that week, and occasional single item purchasing when something unexpectedly shows up missing. The bulk purchasing is done once a month by phone to a wholesale distributor who delivers by trailer truck. The weekly shopping is done by two to three members of the team who purchase milk, yogurt, and cereal based on orders from each unit as well as items needed for the community meals. This requires shopping at three or four locations in order to purchase products at a better price, obtain fresh organic produce, and get wholesale or bulk purchase prices. Although this is time consuming, the savings on the quantities purchased and reducing 13 (member families) grocery trips into one make it worthwhile.

The current cost of the food program is $97.50 per month per adult as of late 2008. The cost for children is prorated until they are 16 years old, at which time their cost is the same as an adult. This fee covers the five meals per week plus access to the pantry where almost all “staples” can be found. The pantry is ample enough that families who can live without a lot of extras can easily eat deliciously and nutritiously on pantry food and common meals without having to go to the grocery store for food. The only other cost is a commitment to fill one slot per week, either cleaning or cooking.

Meal preparation and clean-up takes a team of four; a lead cook, a second cook – affectionately called the “second banana”, a set-up person who also helps clean up, and a clean-up person. The set-up person is usually the first person on the scene. His or her job is to empty the three dishwashers and to set up the dining room. The cooks arrive around 4:00 pm. The Lead Cook is in charge and assigns the Second Banana his or her tasks. The meals generally consist of a main dish for omnivores and one for vegetarians, a vegetable dish, a grain or starch and a salad bar. The meal is laid out on a buffet table that can be accessed from two sides. Each dish is labeled to indicate the presence or absence of dietary restricted ingredients, e.g. dairy, soy, etc. After the meal is prepared and before the dinner bell is rung, the Second Banana fixes plates for any members who cannot attend the meal and have signed up to have plates saved for them.

After the meal the kids and adults take their dishes to one of the dishwashers, scrape and place them in the machine. The clean-up folks put the food away, wash the pots and pans, wipe the dining tables, sweep the floor, wipe down the kitchen counters and start the dishwashers. Some folk take this opportunity to take leftover food home with them for their next day’s lunch.

Over the past 8 years, there have been 3 families who have chosen to withdraw, either temporarily or indefinitely, from the full food program. For two of these families the decision was based on their own food restrictions and preferences. Another family found it difficult to cope with the lively energy of the dining room. One of these families pays a monthly fee to cover some pantry items they use, but do not show up at mealtime. Another family will often bring their prepared food to the dining room and eat with us. The other fixes her own food during pre-allergy season to build her immune system, but usually brings her food to the dining room and shares the community time with other residents.

Eating together has been very good for our community. It has provided a social setting for connection when people are generally enjoying themselves eating a good meal. It has brought members together in a close working situation for cooking or cleaning up. There has been general satisfaction with the quality of food, the savings in costs and human energy, and the awareness that it is moving towards ecological sustainability. The food program has been the most commonly told “success” story that members share when describing what it is like living in community.
—Fred