We've been hearing a lot about dinner co-ops in the news and around the blogosphere in the past few months. We admit to being initially skeptical, especially since we assumed this meant shopping and cooking in groups. But after so many stories of success, we're thinking it's time to change our tune. Do you have any experience with dinner co-ops?
Instead of the communal cooking and dining that we imagined, most dinner co-ops seem to be an arrangement between two or more households to share pre-made meals. The budget and menu are agreed upon ahead of time, and each family is responsible for shopping for and preparing particular recipes. The recipes are doubled or tripled so there's enough to go around, and then meals are exchanged once a week.
This kind of arrangement sounds ideal for families or individuals who would like to eat at home more and want to save money, but who have limited time to cook during the week. Essentially, in exchange for one day or afternoon of cooking, you get a whole week of home cooked meals.
We wonder how to make this kind of arrangement sustainable for the long term. We could see this starting off with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but then gradually losing steam or becoming derailed if one person isn't able to cook one weekend.
Here are a few resources for setting up a dinner co-op and keeping it running:
• How to Start a Dinner Co-op from iVillage
• The Secret Behind Successful Neighborhood Dinner Co-Ops: Three Tips from a Pro from Culinate
• Personal Chef Service, No Invoice from Culinate - about the economics of dinner co-ops
• Here Comes Dinner from the Washington Post - on the difficulties of maintaining a dinner co-op
• Dinner at Your Door by Alex Davis, Andy Remeis, and Diana Ellis, $14 from Amazon - an entire book about starting a neighborhood co-op!
Any tips or advice from those of you already doing dinner co-ops?
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Comments (7)
We could see this starting off with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but then gradually losing steam or becoming derailed if one person isn't able to cook one weekend.
this.
also, i think this would only work between good friends or family. just the thought of it stresses me out, though, because i'd worry about stuff happening, as is wont to happen in life, and me being unable to fulfill my part of the bargain.
i'm all for having a support system in life, but i don't think this would be practical for me.
i've lived in a few co-ops, and when responsibility is meant to be shared, there are always people who at some time or another disappoint. event though we had guidelines (at least 3 vegs/fruit, 1 whole grain, and 1 protein at each meal) there were people who never followed that or did so in a pathetic way, like serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches whenever it was their turn.
i was always grossed out when i noticed the cook of the night not washing hands before preparing food, or had to eat something like cornbread that wasn't completely baked and had raw batter inside.
i think probably the better way to go is to try to cook for yourself one night or afternoon a week. chopping a bunch of vegetables to put into several dishes at once saves a lot of time. getting into a regular habit of keeping stuff ready in the fridge for a quick stiry fry, or unthawing pizza dough or soup, or re-heating a casserole can save a lot of time and money.
in fact, i bet if most people sat down and planned a menu for themselves for the week (as opposed to a whole group), they would save as much time and money and be prepared for homemade meals every night.
pedalpowered, i totally agree about planning/preparing meals for the week. this is usually how i spend my sunday afternoons, at least for a couple of hours. it lets me eat healthily all week and still keep up with my crazy schedule, plus i don't waste money eating out because i'm rushed and have nothing prepared.
The co-op dinner sounds more complicated to me than just making a simple dinner every night.
I like the idea of cooking in groups, though. I realize that's not what these dinners are about, but it sounds fun.
This might work, but only if you and the other people involved cook in similar styles and have similar expectations as to what "dinner" is. I plan to do a frozen food exchange with friends (my contribution is going to be stuffed pasta shells) but it wouldn't be a huge, every week thing.
My husband and I do this with our next door neighbors - every night one of the four of us cooks a meal for four, and we eat dinner together. At first, we planned to do the other 3 dinners on our own but it works out so well that we end up doing it every night most weeks. We have similar tastes and cooking styles (and allergies), though, and knew this walking into the arrangement. I'll be sad when we move and we have to cook dinner every night again.
I don't think I could handle a dinner co-op where one person is making a ton of food once a week and then you wait for your food to be brought to you. I like cooking too much to do that.
I do have several friends over several times a week for dinner though and we all take turns doing various tasks for the dinner, buying dinner parts etc. The only real difference is we're all cooking (and enjoying the company plus learning new recipes) instead of one person making food and then handing it out. I'd miss my cooking buddies if we switched to a co-op, pass it around thing