This needs to be edited. I wrote this when I envisioned people living as neighbors. There maybe be people living nearby with whom we will want to share meals. Our meals in the monastery will all be shared together. They will be plant-based, simple, and nutritious. We will be aiming towards intermittent fasting, with meals being served around noon and 5pm. If people are not ready for intermittent fasting, we can make exceptions until the point that they are ready to do so.
The cost for food is approximately $250-$300 a month. Residents will need to pay for the food. We grow as much as we possibly can, and get a lot of locally grown, organic food when available.
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This is the vision for when we have neighbors participating.
Community meals are a core part of what makes Wellspring such a strong community. When we cook, clean, and eat together, we strengthen our community fabric. We get to know each other better and care more deeply for each other. Those deep connections allow us to more gracefully navigate the periodic interpersonal conflicts when they invariably arise.
Because there may be a food shortage, there may have to be some kind of rationing system. We all will need to exercise self control and eat to live, not live to eat.
We have found that participating in community meals leads to greater participation in other aspects of community life. When more members engage more deeply in community life, we have a stronger community.
We have two main types of community meals: common meals and potlucks.
Common meals are regularly scheduled at least twice per week. The Common House team (to be established) may also schedule additional common meals. Cooks sign up ahead of time, decide on and post the menu, figure out who is eating and and prepare the meal. A clean up crew also signs up ahead of time. Members sign up ahead of time if they will be eating the common meal. They get charged for common meals with the proceeds going to reimburse the cooks for groceries and pay for staples.
If there are no groceries to be bought, then anyone who is eating will give a portion of their stored plant-based foods. We will figure out how people can contribute their garden produce, and wild edibles as well.
Meals will all be plant based.
At Wellspring we cook and clean up for each other and eat together on a regular basis. All members are strongly encouraged to participate in common meals unless there are overriding circumstances in their lives which keep them from doing so. Examples might include special diets, health issues, scheduling conflicts, etc. (Note that cooks go to great lengths to accommodate most special diets.) Anyone eating more than one common meal per month must participate in common meal cooking and/or clean up.
Potlucks generally happen on Friday evenings. Everyone brings a plant-based dish to share and helps clean up.
When a member chooses not to participate in common meals (not including potlucks), they let the Community Meals Manager know in advance so the Community Meals Manager can plan accordingly. This is very important so the Community Meals Manager knows how many cooking and cleaning slots to make available.
The community meals manager at this time will be Patricia–but as time goes on, this role will be delegated.
If someone does not want to participate in the common meals, Patricia will ask about why–not to pressure, but just to understand.
