Meals minutes: 2005-01-04

Minutes:

1/4/05
In Attendace: Lisa , Amy N., Katie, Bill, Rachel, Kathy B, Pam, Tammy

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* MONKEY * LISA
Rewrite the "Sur Charge" explanation, post to Go [[Meals]], print final draft, post to talk, bulletin board, in cubbies,
Amy has already asked for Agenda time on a future Community [[Meeting]] agenda.

* MONKEY * RACHEAL
Create a "Late Plate How-to Monopoly Money Card" with Tom.
Create enough for all adult members of the community to have, put in mail boxes for Jan - May "trial #2"

*MONKEY * AMY N
Write up Commitee Functioning sheet, post to Go [[Meals]] for any changes, send to Judith for use in community process

*MONKEY * AMY N
Order Rice cooker, repayment from CH

* MONKEY * PAM
Draft the [[Meals]] "Poll" and post to Go[[Meals]],
then to talk, Go Parents and in cubbies.
Pam will gather feedback and bring it back to [[Meals]] Cmtee to discuss.

* MONKEY * KATIE
research a better/bigger cusienart for the kitchen. What she finds can be posted on Go [[Meals]] and brought to then next meeting. Getting this in the next month would help cooks as the current one is not working for the amount of work we have for it.
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- Billing Check In: Rachel /& Kathy
Rachel - welcome Kathy!
Things are going smoothly and we already have this month's billing under control.
Heather and Adi continue to help this work flow, though they are not under obligation to do so - thanks !

- [[Meals]] Surcharge Increase Summary (will then be presented to Cmty) - Lisa
Good write up, thanks for sending in advance on e mail, minor changes,
Lisa will write up and send final draft to Go [[Meals]] before she sends/gives to whole community.

- Clarifying [[Committee]] Functioning (from last cmt process day)
Amy will write this up and post to GO [[Meals]], then send to Judith

Late Plate Trial # 1
Review of what worked best about it, what would we do differently if we use this method? Katie
AND
Late Plate Trial #2
How this will be tested, when is trial over for review

Katie:
Willie & I were the people to call for late plates for the last 6 months or so. We only got 2 calls all season (I think both from Hope) so either people did not really understand our role/function - or maybe they were taking care of their late plates in another way. The biggest challenge to this trial was that there was not enough promotion of it. It was in minutes, and announced at a community meeting, but people did not really "get it".
There are quite a few people who go to every, or almost every, meal, and who might be willing to do late plates. I still contend that it would not hurt to put that job description on the next job schedule and see if anyone gives it a high score. If no one gives it above a neutral, well then we know that no one is interested in doing it, but if someone gives it a 1 or 2, then we know that someone is interested in doing it. Why not let the marketplace decide?

Pam:
Perhaps that's what we have to work on for Trail #2 - Lets post something in the book, put sheets or how to's in mail boxes

Rachel:
Let's make cards people can leave in their wallets, because most people realize they need a late plate in less then 12 hrs before a meal. They can call the CH phone, and who ever picks it up can ask the cook team if the save is ok & they could either plate it up themselves or ask the team if they would be willing to do it. The big thing is getting that made clear right then with whom ever picks up the phone.

Amy N:
So if [[Elph]] picks up the phone, Mac is calling looking for a late plate, and asks Sharron as head cook if it is ok, She says yes, but [[Elph]] would you do it? [[Elph]] tells Mac, yes - it will be here, and [[Elph]] makes sure it gets done. Mac then knows it is happening. No leaving messages, people need to get the confirmation verbally or they should not count on it. We can try this for this work cycle, then evaluate both trials, perhaps picking the things that worked best for the community. The hard part about trial # 1 was that so few used it, and both Hope & Debbi spoke up at the 6 month community "check in" about this one part of the meal system as the only thing not working for them. The fact that the only person who called Katie did not feel it was working is a sign that we need to explore other ways of doing this. It seems that particularly for commuters, this is a challenge (say 1 hour before a meal they know they will not make it in time and need a save).

Katie:
What about having a person who's job it is to do save plates? Maybe this could be trial #3 ?

Amy:
Go Work has responded to that suggestion already on e mail last month, because that person would "be on call" 5 nights a week - thus need to be on campus to plate up saves - it seems an unfair expectation for someone's work hours and time commitment. I also agree with this, and would rather see a person call a friend or the Common House before we allocated work hours to this - I would rather see more folks help with the other meal prep and clean work before this got "work hours" as I personally do not see it as crucial a job, it's my bias and I will own that.

Katie:
Well there are other jobs like locking up at night that work this way... there are quite a few people who go to every, or almost every, meal, and who might be willing to do late plates

Pam:
But the lock up person can do this when ever, and can get someone else to do it for them. If you do not get a late plate at the right time - the food may be gone. It is not as flexible as the lock up.

Bill:
It seems like people call at the last minute to get their late plates, so the phone idea seems a good one to me.

[[Meals]] Poll: Pam
Have a rough draft, will send questions out to Go [[Meals]] first, then Poll Go Parents & Go Talk.
May need to put in people's boxes too as not everyone gets e mail.
Bring back feed back to GO [[Meals]] to discuss

Rice Cooker: Amy
Brought some choices to the group, many happy about this (including Tim who posted a big sign to us through the glass door pleading for the rice cooker)
Amy will buy on-line this week and get re immersed by CH. The inadequate food processor was also discussed, Katie is going to research a new one and bring her findings back to the group to discuss.


Annonomus Feedback On [[Meals]] (from The Box):

*Please no more Jello & Pudding in the snack Fridge

-everyone wants to talk more about the "Pickey Eater's Fridge" as it obviously is being used differently then it was designed. Pam wants to get some of this feed back from parents and the [[Meals]]' Poll...we need to discuss this at our next meeting, but this info will be important for what ever decisions are made about this item and how it is used and paid for.

*Please don't put Chocolate Yogart in the Kid's fridge, thanks Tim

- see other comments on the Pickey Eaters Fridge

*Sorry, We peeked at the meals comment & noticed the note about the "Snack Fridge" it is NOT a snack fridge - it's only for picky eaters & left overs & should not have sweets (Jello/pudding) in it. Maybe this needs to be re-clarified at a meeting. Mac

- We agreed...and then some...this needs to be an agenda item for our next meeting,
nd Rachael does not want Mac to peak at the notes ;)

*I suggest putting a rubber scraper with the silverware, soak and plate stack

- everyone seemed to like this idea, please try it

*Enough encores of the Baked Mac & Chees, Sorry but I'm ready for something else: I know you have other good receipts up your sleeve.

- a number of meals members were surprised by this as they know of many families actually look forward to this meal as they know their kids will eat it. Also that it is being made once every 2 months seems like it should not inconvenience this diner. Ulitmatly the menu's the cooks decide on are "voted on" with people's "feet" and that the attendance to this meal has always been high seems to contradict this anonymous message. Still, it's good to get the feed back and Amy was rotating it out so that it was made once every 3-4 months. Perhaps that will satisfy both.

From Deb A
* #1 How to avoid similar meals ? (e.g. pasta 2 nights in a row) ?

- we had talked about this last month as well. The Biggest thing that we can do is have cooks post in the book menus WAY in advance - and read what others are doing around your meal. With out that, there is little that can be done to avoid this. How else get we get cooks to post sooner? Some discussion about e mail reminders, asking at every meeting ([[Meals]] & Community where a cook maybe sitting there...) etc.

#2 How to encourage healthier meals (Whole grains, less sugar etc)

- this gets back into each cook having their own idea about their ideal menu and what they are interested in cooking (e.g. meat or not? dessert or not? ) and as had been discussed again and again - (diners vote about what they like/want with their "feet") not every meal will be right for every diner, but that cooks have the mantra of the "best meal that serves the most members for the least cost" in mind when they make decisions. Ultimatly, the people who step forward to Head Cook truly guide this process, and everyone has their own ideas about food (as they do about parenting etc) so cooking by example seems to be the best way to address this at this time. The education process for a group this large and diverse can take a long time so patience is good. Not everyone has experience eating this way and not all are interested in it. If someone wanted to step forward an offer some kind of "tutorial" on this for cooks/diners interested in it, perhaps that would be another way to raise the level of education about good nutrition in the community. This would likely be driven by a person wanting to lead this rather then waiting for "someone else" to do it. Go [[Meals]] could certainly support such energy.

#3 How to avoid MSG, (in cookies) Trans Fats etc -
see answer to # 2...

[[Meeting]] ended on time
Next [[Meeting]] TUES FEBUARY 1, 7-8 pm in the sitting room