My wife and I are chatting in the kitchen as she cooks my dinner. She has not worked in 4 years though we could use the money. She has always liked to cook and our son in law is a chef and she has friends who own restaurants and any way you slice it she is a real foodie.
So she recently saw an apartment nearby which advertised a new microwave and my wife was curious about the kitchen. Did I say she is a foodie? Anyway she was stunned - the apartment had a fridge, a small sink and a microwave. No stove. There was no way you could cook in it. Whomever lives there has to eat out virtually every night and while we live in a location with great food sources that has to a combination of unhealthy and rather expensive...
So a week later I am still thinking about it, and I had this idea...
Does anyone know if folks set up some sort of agreement over cooking. Instead of a restaurant competing through low quality or rich diet or fancy ambiance, why not have an agreement that folks will come and eat on some regular basis?
My wife knows I will eat at home. She budgets accordingly. As a kid with three siblings my mum cooked for 6 and budgeted accordingly. When I left home I lived in shared housing and we shared cooking and budgeted accordingly. Indeed that was the most economic life style I have lived, at least in an urban setting. It worked as we could budget to the penny.
In those days we also saved by shopping with a food co-op. We pooled resources with other households and went to wholesalers and worked as volunteers so there was a much reduced labor burden on the food distribution. These days my wife shops at the local Farmers markets. It doesn't save money anymore but it doesn't cost more yet the quality is much better.
Anyway - am I dumb to think a cooking co-op may be an economical way to feed and be fed?
My wife is nursing a plan to do a co-op restaurant with an elderly restaurant owner. If it happens I thought I would probably wander over there to eat instead of eating at home. The landlord who owns the building thinks it's a great idea. A number of friends have said they would love to partake. My idea is a little different - I am looking at it from the point of view of those folks who have to eat out all the time.
I am also thinking the times are really changing and one of the changes is going to be toward a simpler lifestyle. We are going to have to manage on less of everything and I also like the idea of promoting local community.
Anyway - my first diary here. Not a big news one. More of a question to float an idea. Feel free to shoot holes in it. Especially shoot holes.