Meals minutes: 2004-04-13

Minutes:

GO-[[Meals]] Minutes 4-13-04

Present: Mary SC, Gail, Heather, Mark, Amy H., Amy N., Dale, Willie, Dave G., Kelly

- MONKEY Mary to follow up with Janel and Katie.


1. Check-in – what’s your favorite staple
- Ranch and other dressings
- Olive Oil
- Brown rice
- Cheese - parmesan
- Spices (Cumin, Chili Powder)
- Garlic & Onions
- Sugar and Brown Sugar
- Salt & pepper
- Flour, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, raisins
- Pasta
- Potatoes
- Hot sauce, Ketchup, Mustard & other condiments
- Picky-eater items: cereal, oatmeal, applesauce, milk, string cheese, cube cheese, cream, yogurt, decaf & regular coffee, some canned soup, teas (decaf, black, green, & herbal)
- Eggs? Hard-boiled in fridge?

2. Review Monkeys
- GO-Cooks proposal – Yay! We are now the empowered GO-[[Meals]] [[Committee]]
- Epi Pen – Janel is still working on this?
- Allergen Signs – Judith and Katie still working on this
- MONKEY Mary to follow up with Janel and Katie.
- Cleaners – Amy N spoke to CH about using diluted bleach in kitchen. Melisa will check in with CH cleaners to find out what they are using in bathrooms etc. Still no bottles of these cleaners out and clearly marked, including vinegar. Clorox wipes are out and can be used.
- “Quat” is a kind of ammonia cleaner that Zingerman’s uses. $85 for 2-1/2 gallons. 2-1/2 oz diluted 2500 times. Goes VERY far. Needs to be pre-mixed and stored in diluted quantities. EcoLab is supplier. We could get soap for the dishwasher and quat from them, and they’d throw in a maintenance package for the dishwasher. Would probably cost more to get this service than just buy this at GFC.
- MONKEY: Amy H. will talk to Melisa. We want diluted bleach in spray bottle (quantity should be on bottle of bleach). Clearly label this. Put out in plain view. Store chemicals out of toddlers’ reach. Bleach is a temporary measure until we find out more.
- MONKEY: Mary SC will call County Extension to follow up on research on cleaning agents before we commit to bleach. Note: Extension does have a safetyserve training, four hours sponsored by the national restaurant association. They maybe able to have a training just for us and walk through our kitchen. They are sending a brochure to Mary.

3. GO-[[Meals]] Coordinators report

- Timing of work assignments has been moved up a little bit, so we’re hoping to get assignments made by April 26, and get all Head Cooks to have their meal plans in by May. This will help with advance ordering of food and advance planning and signing up.
- Assistant Cooks are assigned to work from 4 to 6:15. If Head Cook needs more time, contact them and ask if this would work. Try offering more flexibility to AC’s.
- Head Cooks need to communicate with AC’s in advance. Some work could be done the night before or whatever if this works for AC’s. This might help to get more people into the Assistant Cook mix, people who can’t get off work early. What about matching AC’s more closely to complexity of meal; cleaners also.
- Consider Asst Cooks I & II – one would come earlier and get more credit? Just an idea at this time. Not much enthusiasm for this.
- Hours seem to be directly related to the complexity of the menu. Some people start early to avoid stress. Hours allocated seem to some as too small.
- How about a session in which tips are shared for simplifying meals?
- Should we try to have a recommendation that people offer the simplest possible meals, since this is easier on everyone (HC, AC, & DC?) Trouble with this is if the diner doesn’t like the one dish offered.
- Could try advance ordering if we know what the average number of diners is. Heather will have this info soon.

Let’s work on better communications about meals – to let people know what recommendations and decisions we have made. Try putting something together for Community meeting meetings for the [[Committee]] Reports section. How about a [[Meals]] Bulletin? Maybe Mary will try to get Joshann to work on this.


MONKEY: AmyN to ask CH if we could have a [[Meals]] bulletin Board on the wall to the right of the phone

4. What to do if there is a No-show on your work team?
- e-mail reminder – Willie is working on this.
- plan for cooks – if your asst. cook is not here by 4:15, call your AC.
- If that doesn’t work, call Meal Coordinators
- If that doesn’t work, have an emergency list of people who are willing to be on call.
- Send a message out to GO-Talk.
- If necessary, reduce the complexity of the meal.
- Or start the meal late.
Head Cleaner
- considering designating one of the cleaners as Head Cleaner to make sure everything is done, also to call any missing cleaners
- Can make an announcement during meal calling for help
- Cleaners who are not dining should show up by 7pm at the latest
- Head cleaner has responsibility for getting cleaning items set up – if cooks can do this, great, but it’s the Head Cleaner’s responsibility to get dishwasher turned on, soapy water in tub, make sure garbage isn’t overflowing, etc.

5. Kid option
Adults should be able to sign up for the kid option. Put KO on sign up sheet and circle it, put this under their household to signify that an adult will be eating this and make sure that there are enough provisions.
.




6. Community [[Meeting]] cook and clean
Looking for volunteers to test out some strategies in April/May
Paper plates
Serve buffet style (fewer serving dishes)
Have everyone help clean up during break – “surgical strike”
Potluck – would eliminate pots needing to be cleaned
So this would be down to just glasses & cutlery being washed
How about going back to order in sometimes (pizza, Mysore Woodlands, etc.)
How about just cooking main dish and having potluck salads and desserts? Or just ordering in main dish and ditto potluck?
Lisa is getting the same crew of cleaners to do two community meeting night meals so we can compare different strategies

7. Other topics off list

Guidelines for how far in advance people should sign up.
Guideline for late sign up.
Guideline for people who either need an early plate or a late plate
Leftovers
- Friday night leftover night – but is this healthy and safe? Not enough fridges – food sits out a long time the first time around
- Friday night – bring your own leftovers night or take home community leftovers and bring them back
- Storage becomes an issue for cooks
- Without any guidelines, everyone has a different interpretation
- We have stickers that say what day of the week food comes from
- We liked the system when people consolidated family style leftovers on the table by the window – made it really clear what could be taken for seconds or lunches – what’s leftover gets pitched? Or kept for one day? Next cook can try to incorporate it with the next meal. Latecomers can scavenge.
- Have a separate (small?) fridge for leftovers? Each night anything left from the previous meal would be pitched by cleaners.
- Need to use containers for leftovers, not serving dishes, so there are enough serving dishes for the next meal.
- Use whiteboard to indicate what the leftovers are so people wandering in can find out what’s there – or just have a dedicated leftover fridge. Pure Guff.
- Some in favor of a full fridge, some in favor of 1/2 size.
- Some food prep you need some extra space to store in fridge before meal.
- Perhaps a “Cook Fridge” and a “ Left over Fridge” and then we have the small “Snack Fridge”
- Seems like a lot of fridges, where do we put it?

NEXT MEETING ITEMS:

How to keep people from touching food they do not eat
try using tongs?
- Our tables are not yet sturdy – can we put latches on the bottom to keep them closed
- We need 1-2 8 foot folding tables for buffets
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Mixing child care with working your shift, and the problems that come with that for some cooks.

Meal statistics based on what we know now
a different way of scheduling of cooks & assistants – each sign up on what dates can work, the days the want are ok, or if you have child issues you could find the team that fits your style

Need another veggie cutting board, I’ll go get it.

Please attach wet dry pen to each board, as the permanent markers have been left there and there have been accidents

The meat and Vegetarian option, it’s not equally dealt with. Both sides need options – we need to come up with how we can take care of both people? Vegetarians, Carnivores, Omnivores, there are some weeks that are all vegetarian
Affordability is an issue
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Thanks everybody, Great [[Meeting]].,,,,