London Community Resource Center Things to Consider

Things to consider

Creating your shopping lists:

The participants may want to appoint a secretary to keep some "scratch notes" for future reference.

What are people's food likes and dislikes?

Do the participants want to cook regular meals or would you like to experiment with "theme" meals, such as: Spanish, Jamaican or Arabic cuisine.

Are there any food allergies in the group?

Buy "staple" foods such as: sugar, flour, spices and non-perishable items.

Participants may want to look at grocery flyers to find the specials. Who will be responsible for bringing in the flyers?

Are there certain items that can be bought in bulk to save money? Example: rice or noodles

Where will the food be stored?

How often will the participants meet and for how long?

How will participants involve their children in the kitchen actvities?

Have open discussions with participants to share ideas and report interesting information such as: sales, specials, bulk buying.

Shopping

Not everyone loves to shop, however, in addition to helping out the group, this is an excellent opportunity for participants to familiarize themselves with shopping

strategies such as: bulk buying, buying no-name products vs. name brand products, best prices, and timely shopping.

Participants can shop individually, but it is recommended to shop in pairs. As well as helping one another, many friendships develop this way.

Cooking

Okay, your planning and shopping are complete, now you can get down to the good stuff, cooking. Participants will cook the meals they planned together.

Children may be chosen to prepare the desserts. Children can learn so many skills while working together. In addition to their cooking experience, valuable friendships will develop too. Parents, make sure to acknowledge the children's accomplishments in the kitchen.

Sharing, respect and support are all necessary "ingredients" in meal cooking.

Each one of you much continue to strive to develop these skills so that your Collective Kitchen works to the best of its ability.

How Often will You Meet?

How often your group meets will depend on each group. While each group must meet at least once a month, some of you many want to meet more often, maybe twice per month. If you meet once per month, your will have to be really organized.

How you can make your monthly meeting most effective:

1. Arrive on time.

2. Have your menu and shopping items ready from your previous meeting.

3. Give each participant something to do.

4. Work co-operatively.

5. Be aware of the time. You have approximately 3 hours together, make the most of it.

6. Follow a schedule.

7. Although this sounds like a lot to do, it is possible to get everything done if you stay organized.