Reunión Lunes Junio 5 2023//Meeting Monday June 5, 2023

En Asistencia//In attendance: Frank, Magdalena, Gina, Rebecca, Tian

Traductor//Translators: -

Facilitador//Facilitator:

Notas//Notes: Magdalena

Agenda

  1. Presentación de Actualización de Star Route en el Ayuntamiento del 10/6
  1. ¿Cómo funciona la igualación de precios Mr. Kiwi?
  2. Pedidos al por mayor O por distribución desde Star Route
  3. Pedidos de Choy Commons a través de Amanda
  1. Resumen de distribuciones recientes
  2. Próxima distribución

Agenda

  1. Presentation of Star Route Uthttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jwX7FUG1c_b9rO8H1sCbKuRSdcblS-h2pOgV6rQT9YA/edit#gid=0pdate at the 6/10 Town Hall
  1. How does price-matching Mr. Kiwi work?
  2. Ordering in bulk OR per distro from Star Route
  3. Ordering from Choy Commons through Amanda
  1. Wholesale list here (see community pricing)
  1. Recap of recent distros
  2. Upcoming distro

Notes:

  1. Presentation of Star Route Update at the 6/10 Town Hall
  1. Tian talked to Amanda (SR) and she said SR could match Mr. Kiwi prices.
  2. Choy Commons can do 80% off, see spreadsheet.
  3. If we want to order thru Choy Commons, we can. Otherwise just order thru Star Route as typical.
  4. Frankie: Get what we can on Choy Commons that isn’t super expensive, and then get some with Star Route, and then get Mr. Kiwi.
  5. Tian: Maybe don’t include Choy Commons in the proposal since the price is higher.
  6. Magdalena & Frankie second that. It seems like the prices are too high and greater BAM wouldn’t go for it.
  7. Frankie: Choosing one item from Choy Commons to support them. Magdalena will do a price check on that. Tian: SR can be ordered thru Choy Commons or separately.
  8. Delivery: Need to ask about it. How to know what to order to get SR match vs. other farms prices.
  9. Gina: Yellow light money right now. Food has been going up a couple hundred per month.
  10. Magdalena: We had coffee donated and we probably could’ve had one less item
  11. Frankie: Proposal: Star Route (price match) + Kiwi. We’ll keep following up on the Choy Commons min order, delivery, etc.
  12. Magdalena will be at Town Hall and can speak to the Proposal.
  13. Tian takeaway questions farms: Ask about how ordering works, minimum, ordering Star Route thru Choy Commons, and how trucking works.
  1. Western Beef
  1. Frankie says that working with Western Beef hasn’t been good recently because of new staff. They have been messing up the order.
  2. Sam Poultry has beans, lentils, and rice. If ordered on Mon, Tues, which we already do, then Abdul can get the dry goods. We can source produce bags from Kiwi.
  3. Want to pivot away from Western Beef because its not a productive relationship.
  1. Upcoming Distro
  1. 6/17
  2. Natoora - maybe they’ll have more.

Reunión Lunes Mayo 1 2023//Meeting Monday May 1, 2023

En Asistencia//In attendance: Ira, Magdalena, Joseph, Reba, Frankie, Rebecca

Traductor//Translators: -

Facilitador//Facilitator: Ira

Notas//Notes: Reba

Agenda

  1. Recap of Recent Distros
  2. 5/13 Townhall
  3. Upcoming Distro

Notes in English

  1. Recap of recent distros
  1. Question - has there been follow-up on the discussion from Town Hall where we said we would ask people what food they want in their sets?
  1. For the past few distros, team has been reviewing Airtable data to see what specific foods community members are requesting
  2. Switched between beans - lentil/bean alternation
  3. Frankie to ask check-in chat to engage with people at distro (if possible) on what food they want to see
  1. Volunteer meal prep has been going really well and continuing to come in under budget; Ana M. has been leading lunch
  2. Rebecca – Variety donates coffee/milk if they’re asked a few days before (and coffee is so much tastier than dunkin!!)
  3. Another new manager at Western Beef - Spanish speaker
  4. Lentils were really expensive at St. Nicks Poultry (where we get eggs/beans); Frankie to see if we can get them at Western Beef instead
  5. Site Swap last time with BK ROT
  1. They volunteered at Mayday and then brought scraps to one of their food sites (Know Waste Lands) after distro
  2. A few BAM volunteers went to processing site on Sunday
  3. Seeding Sovereignty will be posting on social media too
  1. Food ordering
  1. Eggs are $1.50 this week at St. Nicks Poultry !!
  2. Plan to re-engage Star Route farms soon about prices/plan for the summer
  1. Eggs are still $6-7
  2. Ira to take lead on scheduling a call with them
  1. Upcoming distros
  1. Cans of tomato sauce being donated for this weekend
  1. Will take up a lot of space in the Uhaul
  1. Look into getting oil & containers or pasta for next time
  1. To be coordinated in the chat
  1. Ira has friends who can order from Webstaurant
  1. Comes in advance; good wholesale pricing
  2. But requires portioning
  1. Star Route Purchasing
  1. Reba - Town Hall discussion about Star Route. Should any savings that we have been able to capture over the winter be used to take care of backlog.
  2. Frankie - Isn’t space and people’s capacity more of a limiting factor?
  3. Reba - Sophie’s and Maria’s proposal for Woodbine distro
  4. Ira - Exporting the BAM model requires BAM-level funds, BAM model has issues, and requires effort from BAM’s food ordering group.
  1. Town Hall May 13th - Items to bring up
  1. Star Route Ordering
  1. Last time we talked was January and we wanted to fundraise to be able to order from them again.
  2. Food order budget - want to see what the historical costs have been to review at Town Hall
  3. We should text Amanda to find out pricing and quantity numbers
  4. Maybe propose Star Route $ and a Kiwi $ and what that would look like at a summer distro
  5. Rebecca - Local Roots contacts

Reunión Miércoles Marzo 8, 2023//Meeting Wednesday March 8, 2023

En Asistencia//In attendance: Ira, Sophie, Annie, Franky, Tian

Traductor//Translators: -

Facilitador//Facilitator: Annie

Notas//Notes: Ira

Notes in English

  1.  Agenda
  1. What to present at the Town Hall on Saturday, March 11
  1. Woodbine proposal - uncertain and pending confirmation from Maria
  2. What this group actually is meant to do (NOT food GROUP, food ORDERING group)
  1. POU
  2. Frequency & scheduling of Food Ordering Meetings
  1. The first Monday of each month was agreed upon at the December 5th, 2022 meeting; notes below
  1. How to reconfigure food boxes/recycling at distros?
  2. Check in with Ira & Tian about cooking for volunteers
  1. Town Hall Presentation
  1. Annie: Would be good to review quantity of sets and cost per set
  2. Sophie: We should explain what this particular group does and after clarifying, ask about thoughts on what items are in grocery sets. This will be a good opportunity to see what the community wants.
  3. Annie: We need to explain that orders are done by weight and portions need to be scaled
  4. Ira: We should propose purchasing BAM scales
  5. Sophie: Arturo suggested purchasing speaker
  6. Ira: Mayday has tech inventory we should try to source from for sound, we should get BAM essential tools and establish SOP on care
  7. Annie: Can’t attend town hall, but available to prepare notes for our presentation beforehand
  8. Sophie: We should revisit Food Ordering decision chart to determine what’s in our purview including selecting vendors and whether or not we have new distros, we should just present and not print assets (Sophie will review the chart and make any edits and send to food ordering chat for review)
  9. Annie: Think it would be helpful to print bilingual notes
  10. Sophie: Woodbine proposal wouldn’t be in the food ordering chat’s section of the town hall, plus it doesn’t seem like it’s been built into the agenda elsewhere PLUS I haven’t been able to touch base with Maria
  11. Annie: Ask food ordering chat on who can present - Ira can
  1. POU
  1. Ira: Nothing for food ordering chat to DO here, the point of this proposal is to bring to BAM at large and present as a framework of how we communicate WHAT we are as a group and who/what we want to be accountable to, a framework for decision making, resolution, etc. The points in there so far are just Ira’s own proposals so far (she anticipates critique and revisions), but the hope is that we can eventually update them to be something that everyone can accept. The Spanish translation needs to be reviewed by someone who is fluent! The doc as it is now explains who we are, what we’ve been doing so far, what the point of this project is (which has been a contentious topic since BAM’s formation). This is based on Ira’s experience with BAM and on their perspective which is also informed by her own work with similar groups. The doc also thinks about if these are the things we’re organizing for, what does that mean. [I think now we’re just reviewing the contents of the doc itself, I’m not taking notes on that, see the doc for that]. Ira attached supporting documents as well (from other groups, etc.)
  2. Ira: important to establish we’re not proclaiming that we do these things immediately, the point of the POU isn’t to obscure the fact that we aren’t doing all the things by claiming that we already are, the point is to note that we want to and want to be alerted when we are doing things counter to these points
  3. Ira: examples – which vendors do we work with? Large scale vendor vs. (for example) star route, we could return to the POU (maybe add something about coalition building to POU). The POU help to figure out how do we show solidarity to folks we know are being harmed by the conventional food system while acknowledging that we aren’t currently completely sourcing from ethical vendors. If we have these POU as a ~guiding light~ will make it so that we are working on moving away from those harmful systems, etc. and so that there is a standard to which we can be held accountable when we engage in those harmful systems / harm people by doing that
  4. Frank: agreed we should expand the coalition model language. Will this be expanded more or is it meant to be concise bullet points like this?
  5. Ira: it can be expanded and should be to any extent that it’s needed, but more concise is generally preferable. She tried to avoid “we do not tolerate XYZ” type language, saying “we stand alongside trans people” negates the need for that “negative” language. They would hope that this document isn’t in its final form (needs to be revised to incorporate the perspectives of more marginalized and Bushwick native people!). Also included acknowledgement of the contradictions between our work and that of groups which are directly undoing (and profiting off of)
  6. Annie: she accepts & agrees with everything, re #6 she sees some tension and thinks this topic is something we’ll have to navigate as a group (as expected). She sees an argument for as much food (i.e. cheapest sourced food) to get as much food as we can to as many people who need it as possible
  7. Ira: true, starting with this framework will still guide us in the right direction – i.e. the right direction being to acknowledge the injustices our current practices perpetuate and navigate away from those practices & into solidarity with those oppressed
  1. Ira proposes agenda revision: scheduling decisions can be made in food ordering chat with input of more people, recycling boxes seems like a convo maybe for a different group anyway, and Ira/Tian food update they can just do real quick. Since John just joined and said he wanted to share some ideas, She proposes that we prioritize that (then Dani translated)
  2. John: saw we order food, wants to know how we do it and if he can help out/what it is we mainly do? Mostly at the distros he cleans & helps out what he could, but wants to learn more about what it is we do
  3. Sophie: Walkthrough of vendors including Mr. Kiwi, Western Beef, St. Nicholas Poultry, Star Route Farm
  4. Everyone agreed with Ira’s proposed agenda change
  5. Final agenda item: cooking update from Ira – cooking has been going really long! (side note: responding to Dani’s point in the chat about the town hall agenda being soooo long, Sophie and Ira will be there to present and Annie is helping to prep the topics for town hall presentation.
  1. Back to cooking update from Ira: a lot of people have been helping out Ira & Tian, which has made it really fun and a lot easier (Annie, Frankie, Magdalena and Anne have helped with cooking, Hannah has helped with transportation). Next step in Ira’s head: open out call for cooking support to the larger chat? She had only sent to the food ordering team thus far. They want to put together a community agreement like we do for the town halls so as more people get involved, they can get on the same page and feels good to work together as a team. Additional proposal: it could be a Spanish only space, could be an immersion crash course on food and cooking topics? Maybe having someone there who can translate when needed would be good (English could only be utilized for translation support, for example), could also be a space for hispano-hablante folks to practice their English if they’d like – an overall low stakes environment! They want to formalize the staff meal (food for the cooking staff!), and make it so the chefs are well nourished. Think about potentially expanding to offering hot meals (even if just something smaller) to everyone who has an appointment. Maybe we should start reaching out to spaces that have actual commercial kitchens? Honeys (for example) has a full kitchen, or Starr Bar, both close to Mayday too. Maybe there’ll be more feedback as we do it more, everything going well so far! Welcomes critiques about culturally/nutritionally appropriate food, those types of requests could be accommodated & menus could be built around that.
  1. Everyone supports everything Ira said on this 🙂
  2. Expanding to offering meals to ppl with appointments would require another kitchen space (Ira’s apartment can support MAX ~140 meals and that’s pushing it)

ACTION ITEMS:

  1. Tomorrow annie will make notes for town hall prep and circulate them before adding them to the town hall agenda
  2. Sophie will do the same re the decision making chart
  3. Ira will translate this meeting’s notes
  4. That’s all?

Apuntes en Español

  1. Orden del día
  1. Qué presentar en el Ayuntamiento el sábado 11 de marzo
  1. ¿Propuesta de Woodbine?
  1. POU
  2. Frecuencia y programación de reuniones de Pedido de Alimentos
  1. En la reunión del 5 de diciembre de 2022 se acordó el primer lunes de cada mes; notas a continuación
  1. ¿Cómo reconfigurar las cajas de alimentos/reciclaje en las distros?
  2. Consulte con Ira y Tian sobre cocinar para voluntarios

Reunión Martes Febrero 20th, 2023//Meeting Tuesday February 20th, 2023

En Asistencia//In attendance: Ira, Anne, Frank, Tian, Magdalena, Sophie, Dani

Traductor//Translators: Anne, Dani

Facilitador//Facilitator: VOLUNTARIO

Notas//Notes: Sophie

  1.  Agenda
  1. Food Ordering vs. Food-At-Large Chat
  1. Anne: Divide between the two groups causes issues; brainstorm on how to improve this divide, which started as informal (purely logistics) but has now become more formalized/official. This transition to official-ness mandates a shift in membership & group “logic”/decision making / etc. etc.
  2. Anne: in last meeting Maria raised q re why food ordering chat was the “bloc” to woodbine distro proposal, some members of food ordering team answered that we didn’t think we had the power to/should make the decision which is why we hadn’t done so
  3. Sophie: during last meeting it seemed that not everyone was on the same page about where responsibilities & decision-making powers lie
  4. Anne: Issues that arose in last meeting included food ordering’s language access, and what decisions the Food Ordering WG is entitled to make (larger decisions = budget, smaller decisions = scallion vs carrot).
  5. Tian & Sophie: Woodbine Q has not been brought to the overall group (Town Hall). Woodbine is already onboard to do this extra labor of putting on the distro while the food ordering group coordinates back end, scheduling of appointments. Needs woodbine volunteers + 2 experienced BAM volunteers
  6. Anne: Food Ordering chat has been resolute that we don’t make decisions on budget or labor. We made decisions on what we can get within our budget.
  1. Last meeting we said we wouldn’t be the ones to make the decision on if we are helping with the Woodbine - it should be a decision made in town hall. But maria has a good point that BAM as a group doesn’t have good mechanisms for the decision making process (mostly bc the town hall doesn’t happen enough).
  2. The FOWG is mostly folks with licenses, credit cards, and English speakers. We shouldn’t be the ones who are making big decisions on food access.
  1. Frank - we need to provide more clarity to the rest of BAM on what FOWG (Food Ordering Working Group) has and doesn’t have the power to make a decision on. I like the way we’ve been set up of chatting about logistics in Signal, using the video meetings to discuss, and bringing larger decisions to the larger group (either through chat or town halls)
  2. Sophie - what frank said about setting more real boundaries is a good idea. I was the person who was point with Maria and Noa and they had said, you’re in food ordering team so take it to the group. What I should have done is been clearer that it wasn’t our decision to make, that we would need to take it to the bigger group, and that we would only be able to offer more information about food ordering logistics.
  3. Ira - Should we have a signal chat that has detailed signal etiquette so we can use it as a channel for decision making? Ridgwood TU has a social channel and a different channel with logistical functions.
  1. Frank: i think a separate voting chat was proposed a couple times and most people didn’t want it. Sophie agrees - a lot of people expressed discomfort about that. It has become de facto hierarchical in ways people don’t like
  2. Ira: from the time she’s been involved in BAM they haven’t seen a signal chat with this kind of etiquette (wrong word choice) that is maybe explained before ppl even click “join” etc (i butchered what she said i’m sorry -sophie)
  3. Anne: the only way that could work is if EVERYBODY from the bigger BAM chat is automatically opted in & the only thing that happens in that chat is voting (question from sophie: so then where would discussion/etc happen on those proposals that are being voted on?)
  1. Tian - should we make a game plan about woodbine/chat with maria about it, etc. before the next (3/11) town hall?
  1. Anne: do we wanna make a game plan about explaining what food ordering chat is/is not, if we wanna make a bigger food group somehow
  2. Frank: since it’s such a point of confusion, maybe should be brought up for discussion at town hall or something? Maybe not?
  1. How do we get Doris involved?
  1. This convo started by Tian asking how we choose which foods to order (plantains vs. etc.), answer: combo of prices, vendor input, balance of starch/fruits/etc., what’s left at end of distros, and Doris’ feedback
  2. Anne - Doris is food chat’s touchstone with hispanohablante BAM members because pretty much none of us speak spanish. Anglophones gravitate to food chat (and tech too) because there’s a lot of non-spanish-required labor that can be done. Making sure there are more Spanish speakers in this convo and we have a fundamentally bilingual conversation is important!!!
  1. Tian: we need structures in place to make sure food ordering chat (anglophones) isn’t in the position to make these decisions just because certain things make anglophones gravitate towards this working group
  1. Ira- issues re the Woodbine distro proposal
  1. The reproduction of our current model would just reproduce the accessibility issues within the current model (i.e., language accessibility, skillset accessibility, etc.)
  2. If food ordering chat is doing the ordering and such (the labor), how is it developing autonomy for other groups/other potential groups?
  3. If the model costs money / BAM is still funding it, how is it developing autonomy? Other groups would be reliant on BAM for that continued funding to continue operating (i.e., not autonomous!)
  4. Disagrees that this would be an example of seizing the means of production, we aren’t controlling where the hens are laying eggs, that’s what that means, no?
  5. In all: what we have now, in a lot of ways, doesn’t really work so she doesn’t see the point into replicating it as it is rather than putting labor/money/energy into improving it (at least doing that first)
  1. Maybe we should make a new doc of instructions for orders from each vendor/pickup to decentralize that knowledge? / making a vendor purveyor/donation source spreadsheet (like the one Ira started) could be helpful for sharing around other groups
  2. Anne: should we make an explanation/proposal of how food ordering has worked so far for the next town hall? Sharing a commitment to language justice, proposing discussions about intersections btw food ordering and budget and who makes what decisions. Less of proposing  a solution than explaining the current situation including what it’s problems and limitations are
  1. POU
  1. To be addressed next time
  1. Farm Stuff/Diane Eggs
  2. Response to Last Meeting’s Woodbine Discussion
  1. Notes on this above (out of order)
  1. Agreement that a pre-town hall regroup meeting makes sense
  2. Woodbine proposal team (Sophie, Maria, Noa) will propose the woodbine proposal at the town hall? (NOT food ordering chat’s proposal)
  1. Food team will prepare to speak to our capacity to contribute labor to executing a potential woodbine distro ← this should be a secondary consideration to “should we do this” re the woodbine distro, food ordering chat’s skills are not unique!
  1. Propose March 6th in chat for next mtg date

Meeting Tuesday February 6th, 2023

In attendance: Magdalena, Sophia, Ira, Anne, Maria, Tian, Faceli, Diana, Annie, Sophie

Proposed Agenda:

  1. Intro
  2. Approve Agenda
  1. Agenda approved as is
  1. Last Distro Recap
  1. Everybody said it went great. Our buffer was big enough for everyone to get what they needed. There was no egg drama!
  1. Finance Updates
  1. We don’t have info, Maria says Gina will send in the next few days. Ira asks that we make sure we have a facilitator, a notetaker, and ppl who can present relevant info at each future mtg
  2. Egg prices are unpredictable said Anne
  3. We know our baseline spending except eggs, but nobody prepared that information for today’s meeting said Anne
  4. Maria says it’d be important and helpful to be regularly updating the spreadsheet Mike made, and someone should be explicitly responsible for adding the most recent details to it
  1. Mid meeting discussion topic: Translation
  1. Conversation re translation: ira suggested the translations be sent in the chat, faceli responded that she doesnt think that’s a good idea and that BAM is supposed to be hispanohablante centered and this didn’t feel like that and she felt attacked (i’m not sure what else she said), then faceli and diana left the meeting, maria spoke in agreement with what faceli said (i’m not sure what else she said). Ira asked why we’re having simultaneous conversation in the chat of the meeting – more discussion re how to handle translation in a way that's accessible to all & how to get through the agenda
  2. Anne suggests we cut the agenda in half so that we aren’t under time pressure considering translation – everyone agreed to only address BK rot proposal and/or woodbine proposal, everything else pushed off to next week
  1. Making Meals – Skipping this topic, meeting same time next week to address
  1. Adding on UWF - Anne
  1. Addressed this after agenda item #8
  2. Anne explains food is the biggest gap in the services UWF folks are able to take advantage of
  3. Anne Tian & Ira could spend a couple hundred bucks and prepare meals? Would be helpful in a bunch of ways I (sophie) didn’t type fast enough
  4. Maria: this is in Chelsea/midtown
  5. Discussion about funding
  6. Dani in chat: this isn't super helpful at the moment, but as we fix up our kitchen at el puente, we are hoping to open it up to invite folks to come cook just offering as a resource in future
  7. The last session is Feb 24th. Tian is worried about logistics but is otherwise interested; Anne, Tian & Ira will talk logistics tomorrow?
  8. Anne’s ask: can BAM commit ~$250 towards this? In an attempt to plant the seeds of mutual aid networks with the people at these hotels
  1. Vote: all in favor → Anne will propose to the big chat for a vote, can’t wait for a town hall/etc because it needs to be figured out by thursday night
  2. Maria: we should put it on social
  1. Food For Distro - Ira
  1. BK Rot Proposal - Sophia
  1. Proposal: collab with BK Rot surrounding two points
  1. Social media collaboration, cross posting between BK Rot and BAM on instagram
  2. A food sovereignty and/or Earth Day event that is a collab between BK Rot and BAM
  1. Questions: is this something we’re interested in pursuing?
  1. Maria: lets maintain a partnership, but doesnt make sense to pay them to pick up composting now that there’s an NYC compost bin in front of Mayday – this could look like us still paying them but paying them for a compost pickup somewhere that doesn’t have a bin (example: Woodbine, sunday night after the community meal)
  2. Sophie & Annie agree with Maria
  3. Magdalena agrees we don’t need to keep paying them to pick up Mayday’s compost now that there’s an NYC pickup. Adding re Seeding Sovereignty social media campaign: week 1 “seeds,” week 2 “choosing what to plant,” week 3 “purchasing food and cooking” this is where BAM could come into play, week 4 “food scraps & composting” this is where BK rot would come into play
  4. Anne thinks BK rot is great as people & as a business model,  (teenagers mostly make up BK rot!) they probably have a lot of cancellations right now with the NYC composting, Anne don’t think we should be one of those cancellations (Maria agrees), but concurred that it doesn’t make sense to pay for them to do a pickup outside of mayday (esp bc we have meat, etc. that bk rot can’t take)
  5. Magdalena in the chat:

week 1 - seeds/seed saving (SS)

week 2 - plant (specific veg? choosing what to plant? Star Route?)

week 3 -purchasing food/cooking (BAM)

week 4 - food scraps into compost (BK ROT)

  1. Sophia: does woodbine have freezer space so it could be a mon/tues pickup instead of sunday night? The teenagers are unlikely to be able to accommodate Sunday night pickup. Maria: will figure that out! Doesn’t need to be woodbine, could be anywhere
  2. Magdalena: BK rot may already have someone who wants the service who can’t afford it who we could sponsor or something
  3. Next step: email BK rot or bringing it up in upcoming mtg to say we’re gonna start composting on the corner (NYC bin), but we want to use this money to support someone else (maybe woodbine, maybe someone else)
  1. Vote was held, consensus reached
  1. Sophia shared details re the specifics of what BK rot vs the city are capable of composting
  2. Annie: lets check w/ social team before proposing a social media collab w/ bk rot
  1. Magdalena: we can chat w/ BAM social, but she thought it would moreso be BK rot featuring us than us posting stuff, but we can make it whatever we want/whatever works well for us
  2. Sophia: maybe we should raise this at a town hall?
  3. Anne: this is also a bigger conversation – food chat is hesitant to make big decisions, it’s supposed to be autonomous groups within bam which means we can make decisions about what is/is not mission aligned and do a collab with bk rot for example. Waiting for town hall, pushing the collab off months, etc. could be unnecessary bureaucratic steps that keep us from moving forward; but need to balance that with making sure our values
  4. Maria agrees, and thinks its helpful to check with town hall & chat because there are hispanohablante ppl who dont check the chat and ppl who only check chat. Mil Mundos has a model in which people can make autonomous decisions as long as they are willing to take full responsibility for the decision they made – if people don’t like it and it changes in the future that’s fine
  5. Consensus that decision that we can make decisions abt social media collab and events with bk rot autonomously and can also consult the big chat if we want
  6. Dani chimed in on this
  1. Time check – Annie proposed we stop talking abt bk rot BY 9:15 and hard end this meeting at 9:30, maybe we switch to woodbine proposal?
  1. Anne mentioned that undocumented womens fund meals are time sensitive
  1. POU Proposal - Ira – Skipping this topic, meeting same time next week to address
  2. Woodbine Proposal - Maria(?)
  1. Previous Meeting’s Feedback
  2. Maria’s ideas: not interested in the food logistics, but interested in production & in bringing hispanohablante folks into those production skills/means of production (literally). We’ve been talking abt this distro since last fall, other people outside food team should be able to try and deliver food to people. If Maria could share this model with people, other people could operate an additional distro. The backlog will NEVER resolve itself – the more people who receive aid the more people will hear about it and request aid. It’s more about asking new (and old) people who come to distros & new events if they want to know how to put on distros (etc) themselves via collective buying. If we can’t decide / trial new things large/small scale, different venues, places, times, etc. we are effectively gatekeeping the means of distro-production from hispanohablante & nonwhite people. Maria has shared with others than these decision making issues and hesitancy to try more new things falls along racial/ethnic/language lines (i’m sure i butchered that -sophie). Maria wants to bring people IN.
  3. Dani says: im super for capacity building to allow more and more folks to be engaged in mutual aid activities. i think this reframing was massive for me
  1. Anne: Same - I understood it purely as a backlog thing; this is different entirely
  1. When people feel their access needs are a burden they leave (ex: faceli and diana leaving this meeting)
  2. Maria: this is about documenting a production that can be handed out to other groups, so people don’t have to reinvent the wheel when doing mutual aid organizing across the city & outside the city
  3. We have $52k in the bank
  4. Maria, Sophie & Anne agreed on saturday’s distro that we should bring this topic back up with food team, send a proposal in the big chat, and bring it up in person at the next 3 distros
  5. Anne: the proposal Sophie shared was very different from what Maria is explaining now. Would this be a 1 month trial? Or a 3 month trial? Proposal is unclear based on what Maria said and what Sophie wrote.
  6. Maria: we can only do it for 3 months if the first month goes well
  7. Sophie: the written proposal says 3 months so that we would have enough money to do the next two months without having to wait for another town hall (ex: scheduling issues like there are now and then we can’t move forward)
  8. Dani: the way Maria framed this was helpful! Re capacity building. Anne agrees this is the more important context
  9. Anne: we could invite people who live a little closer to woodbine?
  10. Anne thinks people may ask: why don’t we just do 3 a month at mayday? What’s the response to that? Maria: proof of concept, proving that we can do a smaller more malleable distro & expand people who can do these roles. We need to divorce the capacity expanding concept from the idea of asking the people already doing labor to do more… we dont want to put more things on peoples plates we want to hand out more metaphorical plates
  11. Tian: talking about whose in this room and whose not and who is left (english speakers only), tian feels overwhelmed capacity wise because they’re relatively new. They wonder how expanding the same model that we’re using now would solve the very apparent issues of language access & lack of decision making from the people who are actually benefiting from the distros. Not sure how to continue that conversation based on who is already in the room (anglophones). How would a woodbine distro combat those issues? Replicating the same model would replicate the same issues, no?
  12. Maria: when we started mayday distros there were 0 hispanohablante volunteers. Mentioned eggs as example of how that makes things go so much better in all ways. Woodbine may be a train wreck but we shouldn’t be stopped from trying it because of chat stress & decision making issues. The ask from THIS meeting is if we can present this proposal to the big chat and in conversation at the next 3 in person distros exactly TO bring hispanohablante and people who can’t read or write etc etc into this conversation
  13. Dani: is there a training and information sharing aspect to this? Agree with Maria & Tian’s points, wondered where the idea originated. So is there training as a part of this proposal so we can bring in more folks to these production roles? Dani is down to help with the training aspect!
  14. Maria: the conversation hadn’t even gotten there yet but that would be amazing. We could run 1 distro before we train people on it? Need to learn and try so that we CAN bring in more people
  1. Dani note in chaat: before we close and move forward, i'm not sure if too much additional time was spent on this, but i would like to reinforce the valuing and prioritizing of language justice , and if it is easeful, i always offer myself as translation support <3
  2. Farm Stuff – Skipping this topic, meeting same time next week to address
  1. Video Call w/ LBC (egg farm)
  2. Meat Options?

En asistencia: Magdalena, Sophia, Ira, Anne, Maria, Tian, Faceli, Diana, Annie, Sophie

Orden del día propuesto:

  1. Introducción
  2. Aprobar Orden del Día
  1. Orden del día aprobado tal cual
  1. Resumen de la última distribución
  1. Todo el mundo dijo que fue genial. Nuestro amortiguador era lo suficientemente grande para que todos obtuvieran lo que necesitaban. ¡No hubo drama de huevos!
  1. Actualizaciones financieras
  1. No tenemos información, María dice que Gina enviará en los próximos días. Ira pide que nos aseguremos de tener un facilitador, un tomador de notas y personas que puedan presentar información relevante en cada reunión futura.
  2. Los precios de los huevos son impredecibles, dijo Anne.
  3. Conocemos nuestro gasto de referencia, excepto los huevos, pero nadie preparó esa información para la reunión de hoy, dijo Anne.
  1. hacer comidas
  1. Añadiendo a UWF - Anne
  2. Comida Para Distro - Ira
  1. Propuesta de BK Rot - Sophia
  2. Propuesta de Woodbine - María (?)
  1. Comentarios de la reunión anterior
  1. Propuesta POU - Ira
  2. Cosas de la granja
  1. Videollamada con LBC (granja de huevos)
  2. ¿Opciones de carne?

Meeting Tuesday January 10, 2022

In attendance: Annie, Sophie, Ira, Tian, Arturo, Andrew, Chaela, Anne, Sophia, Frank

Proposed Agenda:

  1. Introduction
  1. 1/mo food meetings to talk about food, if needed. Not just ordering. Open to all.
  2. Everyone review notes document before coming so we don’t rehash stuff and make sure to get through everything we want to
  3. Send notes to larger group after meeting (and agenda before if it’s ready in time)
  1. Edit agenda based on what we want to address this time v. next time
  2. Think of ways to share information from the decision making chart with the larger group
  3. General Check-In on Money & Numbers
  1. Go over what was decided at the Town Hall re budget
  2. Response to items we have addek d & subtracted
  1. How to Do Food Ordering
  1. St. Nicholas Live Poultry
  2. Western Beef
  3. Mr. Kiwi
  4. Star Route
  1. Mission statement
  1. Are we still trying to update ours?
  1. Food price research, in kind donation research
  1. We can make shared doc[a] that serves as an information hub so anyone can add and see what people have already looked into
  2. Think about how to onboard people to help with this
  3. The linked doc needs to be translated to Spanish
  1. Woodbine x BAM distro proposal (Soph)
  1. Revise / talk through the details of this proposal in preparation for presenting it to the bigger group at the next town hall (not yet scheduled)
  2. General idea:
  1. Once a month on Tuesday morning for 3-6 months
  2. BAM pays and coordinates everything
  3. Woodbine volunteers with BAM to run the distro
  4. $1500-1800 a month, 120 sets max
  5. Food delivered and pre-packed Monday night
  1. Check in with Ira & Tian – how was making breakfast and lunch at Saturday’s distro?
  2. Ira: POU / Mission Statement

Notes:

  1. Sophie: Introductions, proposed agenda review
  1. Annie: Woodbine proposal should be a priority
  2. Anne: Need to cover finance stuff, reminder we’re aiming for <10k a month
  3. Sophie: We’d been spending ~15k a month on food and EG brought it to 20k, conversations about increasing fundraising, currently have 45k in OC
  4. Annie: Dedicate portion of meeting to Mission Statement
  5. Anne: Mission statement should be handled as working group
  6. Ira: points of unity rather than mission statement, has materials she can share
  1. Decision-Making
  1. Anne: big things must be brought to the group, small logistical things are within our purview
  1. Food-Ordering
  1. Sophie: Review of current vendors - SRF, Kiwi’s, WB, St. Nicholas,
  2. Anne: Will update doc
  3. Sophie: Should aim for cheapest stuff if sourcing from big conventional growers, want people to be empowered to finding new purveyors,
  4. Ira: Make money moves with the egg farmers - see if we can negotiate and arrange long term deal to source eggs sustainably and learn more about the farm
  5. Anne: Offer farms a budget that we have and learn more about their capacities to ensure a healthy arrangement
  6. Sophie: +1 to Anne & Ira, step for next time: meet farms and learn more about them
  7. Frank: Abdul @ Sam Live’s family owns multiple locations, gives BAM really good deal - selling at a loss, nice people
  8. Sophie: When egg prices spiked we called a bunch of different vendors
  9. Frank: Also Sam Live saved us on beans since they had surplus
  10. Sophie: Early on we used to get more goods donated
  11. Frank: Talking to Woodbine and Collective Focus - both places source from locations getting rid of stuff but quality usually bad, lots of pantries have closed recently
  12. Sophia: Source from farmers’s markets - what can’t be sold
  13. Anne: We did this with Myrtle Wyckoff market through Comida Pal Pueblo connections, mainly used to stock Mayday free fridge alone, mainly supplemental, couldn’t source from Riseboro’s market
  1. Woodbine x BAM distro proposal
  1. Sophie: Sophie, Maria, and Noa created proposal–using BAM’s extra funds for a once monthly distro that’s a combination of BAM & Woodbine (at Woodbine)  to help decrease the BAM backlog & use money reserves
  2. Ira: BAM used to collab with Bushwick Emergency Relief Fund; there was a previous collab where Woodbine regulars expected to receive distro goods because Woodbine runs their distros pantry-style (first come first serve), but BAM has a long waiting list and this created confusion. Has this been discussed/ how will we navigate it?
  3. Sophie: We should in advance address this. Noa said that a mediator for line-accumulation is 30 sets every 30 minutes for two hours. 120 sets given out total. There should be a BAM/Woodbine volunteer outside providing information as well.
  4. Arturo: Question - so this distro would be for BAM’s backlog?
  5. Sophie: Yes
  6. Arturo: Question - Is this going to happen at the same time as BAM’s distros?
  7. Sophie: No, Tuesday mornings once a month. We would try to get approval for 3 months worth of trial run in this format at the next town hall. About 60 families from the backlog addressed at each
  8. Ira: I understand this is meant to address the backlog. Question - to what end are we doing that? What we supply to folks is supplemental. Folks could understand it as a less-functional nonprofit. I don’t see how an additional, small-scale distribution would do anything for folks who have been on the backlog for 6 weeks. What is it meant to signify and what is it working towards?
  9. Arturo: I agree with Ira; it looks like it’s our distro and list just at Woodbine. Another big thing is trying to lower the set cost so we can get more families in each distro. Instead of doing something with Woodbine, maybe focus on making relationships with farms & vendors to have more people at the Mayday distro?
  10. Anne: Question - would it be limited to backlog/citas?
  11. Anne: Question - so is the rationale that it is at Woodbine because they have a different volunteer pool therefore more capacity?
  12. Anne: Question - Is there a reason we couldn't do a third distro out of Mayday? Instead of doing it at Woodbine?
  13. Sophie: Mayday has a space limiter and COVID-19 protocols. Also Mayday is really booked.
  14. Anne: 425 sets max is the space limiter at Mayday. Question - could we do a Tuesday am distro at Mayday?
  15. Frank:  I think we have to keep it under like 200 citas because of space and also volunteer capacity, that’s also why we've been doing 4pm, instead of 5 or 6 too.
  16. Andrew: I don’t get the point of the extra distro, like what Ira was saying.
  17. Ira or Tian: It’s 7:30
  18. Annie: It’s 7:35 - proposes staying on for an extra 15 minutes. Take a vote on if we should propose Woodbine proposal at next town hall, then stick around to ask Ira & Tian about cooking at distros.
  19. Sophie: Hadn’t thought about the reliability/these are supplemental groceries critique. Doing another distro is a way to be accountable to donations. This wouldn’t shrink the wait time THAT much and we don’t know how much it would. Money has been donated to us to meet these requests, and we should give it back out in the form of goods as quickly as possible.
  20. Annie: I think we should propose it at the next Town hall because I want to hear everyone else’s opinions
  21. Anne: We don’t have consensus; we should be clear about that when we tell the group. I think it’s important to raise some of these questions
  22. Ira: I agree but also I would definitely vote against and repeat my same critiques.
  23. Anne: We’re never going to end the backlog because we are a bandaid. What is accountability? Is it to our funders or to the households calling us? We should preface by saying that we aren’t ready to vote on this proposal, but would like to talk about it with everyone.
  24. Tian: Would be helpful to bring it to the town hall with the discussed pros and cons
  25. Andrew: I agree with Annie, it would be useful to have the discussion
  1. Check in with Ira and Tian
  1. Sophie: They baked all of the cookies for the holiday treat, and they cooked both breakfast and lunch for volunteers at the most recent Saturday distro. It was delicious and much less expensive.
  2. Ira: It went well. There were ways we could have saved more money. We spent $210, and said it’s usually ___ for breakfast and $250 for lunch. That’s a 33% savings. If we raise the pricing a bit it would have been easier to scale to offer folks who were walking in. Maybe we can propose that to the group? Two of us cooking alone was challenging; we had previous group where we did community feeds so we want to tap that. If we had more hands we could make more and better food.
  3. Annie: I’m interested in helping cook
  4. Sophie: Me too
  5. Sophie: Where and when did you do the cooking?
  6. Ira: My apartment; 6:00am the day of distro
  7. Sophie: Recap - think about how to get more hands for cooking, and think about if we want to do community meal as well?
  8. Anne: At Nuestra Mesa they’ve done distros with just a table set up with the lunch food on it, and people took it if they wanted and didn’t if not. There was such a warmth re: the cookies. A little bit of pleasure. If we can work in it would be beautiful.
  9. Sophie: I agree
  10. Ira & Tian: We can make a proposal for hot food at distros
  11. Anne: Can we include the Cantonese speaking families as well? We were all very worried about this at a town hall, got Chinese food from a restaurant down the street, and every family took the pork and beans. Spanish speaking families wanted stir fry. What we thought was not actually what people wanted, it ended well.
  12. Annie: maybe we read the last agenda item mission statement and come back to discuss next time?
  13. Sophie: Read and comment for next time? (Most people agreed, nobody dissented)
  14. Frank: everyone come to the fundraise

Next steps:

Meeting Monday December 5, 2022

Proposed Agenda:

  1. Introduction
  1. 1/mo food meetings to talk about food, if needed. Not just ordering. Open to all.
  2. Everyone review notes document before coming so we don’t rehash stuff and make sure to get through everything we want to
  3. Send agenda beforehand and notes after to larger group
  1. Make sure everyone agrees on the decision making table. Any edits?
  1. Maybe pass out and don’t discuss in depth
  2. Anne - maybe add some examples or context to help people understand how the decisions actually happen
  3. Annie - Remove “decision” about how and if volunteers should get sets
  4. Edited in line
  1. Budget cut table - any edits?
  1. Alternative person to pitch if Hannah can’t make it
  2. Anne and Sophie and Ira can help with pitch at Town Hall
  3. Adding a column for new options
  4. Ideally want a decision out of Town Hall
  5. *Our must discuss for food portion*
  1. Bread and roses xmas distro proposal
  1. Ideas on what we could distribute?
  1. Hannah pitches - small indoor herb plant (1 per fam not set probably, maybe a nightmare to pick up), baked good, chicken (expensive, i assume), candies
  1. Estimated cost?
  2. Maybe gingerbread house, maybe something to keep kids busy, maybe horchata seasoning packets, could do more boring thing like sugar/spice/oil
  3. Chicken is ~$.50/lb and we give about 1-1.5lb per set
  4. Also do candy (candy canes?) and/or cookies (ginger bread?) for kids to decorate at cafecito corner  or as alternative - give hot cocoa out
  5. Chicken or oil is winner maybe
  6. NEXT STEPS - source prices for pitch at town hall - going to source for oil, chicken, candy/cookies, milk, sugar, hot cocoa, rice pudding
  1. Containers + timing/prep for each thing + picking up
  2. Maybe have volunteers cook cookies? Split them up
  3. Check with cafecito corner to see if they want to take on activity corner
  4. ORDER - Anne sources, we pitch at town hall, based on approved budget, we decide what to buy and delegate
  1. Brainstorm list of ongoing food projects that we could outsource to bigger chat (and maybe continually check in on/outsource monthly)
  1. Mission statement, food price research, in kind donation research
  2. We can make shared doc[b] that serves as an information hub so anyone can add and see what people have already looked into
  3. NEXT STEP - Translate to Spanish
  1. Woodbine x BAM distro proposal (Soph)
  1. Could be good to actually talk through the details of this proposal so that it is ready to be presented to the bigger group once the decision-making-process is ironed out
  2. Only an ~if we have time~ thing, since it will have to wait
  3. Once a month on Tuesday morning for 3-6 months, BAM pays and coordinates everything, Woodbine volunteers with BAM to run the distro. $1500-1800 a month, 120 sets max
  1. Saving for next town hall and next food meeting, and vote
  2. Food delivered Monday night and packed at prior distro at Mayday and dropped off at Mayday
  1. How do we want to handle scheduling moving forward? Doodle poll each time? Or standing date (every third tuesday, etc.)?
  1. Hannah proposal - Standing date for ease of scheduling/people remembering/putting on BAM calendar, etc.
  2. Anne - standing, Mike - poll
  3. Proposal - first Mondays of the month - pitch and see if anyone is upset about it

In Attendance: Hannah, Ira, Anne, Sophie, Annie, Frank

Notes: (see above in green)

Next Steps: Send agenda to chat

  1. Translating of decision making table to spanish (annie) & cantonese (anne to reach out for cantonese translation) & then print (sophie) – will bring to town hall
  2. Research on pricing for holiday treat proposal (anne) – will propose at town hall
  • Next step on this would be placing the orders and coordinating the details if we get approval
  1. Translate research table into spanish and send to larger group (plus remind monthly) (hannah)
  2. Going forward food meetings will be 1st monday of each month (unless there is opposition)

Topics to focus on next food mtg

  1. Woodbine distro: to be worked on and more seriously discussed at next food mtg
  2. Mission statement: need to focus on this at the next food meeting


Reunión lunes 5 de diciembre de 2022

Orden del día propuesto:

  1. Introducción
  1. 1/mes reuniones sobre alimentos para hablar sobre alimentos, si es necesario. No solo ordenar. Abierto a todos.
  2. Todos revisan el documento de notas antes de venir para que no repitamos las cosas y nos aseguramos de terminar todo lo que queremos.
  3. Envíe la agenda de antemano y las notas después al grupo más grande
  1. . Asegúrese de que todos estén de acuerdo en la mesa de toma de decisiones. ¿Alguna edición?
  1. Tal vez desmayarse y no discutir en profundidad
  2. Anne: tal vez agregue algunos ejemplos o contexto para ayudar a las personas a comprender cómo se toman realmente las decisiones
  3. Annie: elimine la "decisión" sobre cómo y si los voluntarios deben obtener conjuntos
  4. Editado en línea
  1. Tabla de recorte de presupuesto: cualquier edición ?
  1. Persona alternativa para lanzar si Hannah no puede asistir
  2. Anne, Sophie e Ira pueden ayudar con la presentación en el ayuntamiento
  3. Agregando una columna para nuevas opciones
  4. Lo ideal es que el ayuntamiento tome una decisión
  5. *Debemos discutir sobre la porción de comida*
  1. pan y rosas propuesta
  1. ¿Ideas sobre lo que podríamos distribuir?
  1. Hannah pitches: pequeña planta de hierbas de interior (probablemente no se haya colocado 1 por familia, tal vez una pesadilla para recoger), productos horneados, pollo (caro, supongo), dulces
  1. ¿Costo estimado?
  2. Tal vez una casa de pan de jengibre, tal vez algo para mantener a los niños ocupados, tal vez paquetes de condimentos de horchata, podría hacer cosas más aburridas como azúcar/especias/
  3. aceite
  4. . ¿bastones?) y/o galletas (¿pan de jengibre?) para que los niños las decoren en la esquina del cafecito o, como alternativa, dé chocolate caliente.
  5. El pollo o el aceite son los ganadores
  6. . pollo, dulces/galletas, leche, azúcar, chocolate caliente, arroz con leche
  1. Recipientes + tiempo/preparación para cada cosa + recoger
  2. ¿Quizás tener voluntarios para cocinar galletas? Divídalos
  3. Consulte con el rincón del cafecito para ver si quieren participar en el rincón de actividades
  4. PEDIR: fuentes de Anne, presentamos en el ayuntamiento, según el presupuesto aprobado, decidimos qué comprar y delegar
  1. Lluvia de ideas sobre la lista de proyectos alimentarios en curso que podríamos subcontratar a un chat más grande (y tal vez verificar/subcontratar continuamente mensualmente)
  1. Declaración de misión, investigación de precios de alimentos, investigación de donaciones en especie
  2. Podemos hacer un documento que sirva como un centro de información para que cualquiera pueda agregar y ver lo que la gente ya ha
  3. PRÓXIMO PASO - Traducir al español
  1. Propuesta de distribución de Woodbine x BAM (Soph)
  1. Podría ser bueno hablar sobre los detalles de esta propuesta para que esté lista para ser presentada al grupo más grande una vez que se solucione el proceso de toma de decisiones
  2. Solo un ~si tenemos tiempo ~ cosa, ya que tendrá que esperar
  3. Una vez al mes, los martes por la mañana durante 3-6 meses, BAM paga y coordina todo, Woodbine se ofrece como voluntario con BAM para ejecutar la distribución. $ 1500-1800 por mes, 120 juegos como máximo
  1. Ahorro para el próximo ayuntamiento y la próxima reunión de comida, y votación
  2. Comida entregada el lunes por la noche y empacada en la distribución anterior en Mayday y entregada en Mayday
  1. ¿Cómo queremos manejar la programación en el futuro? Doodle encuesta cada vez? ¿O fecha permanente (cada tercer martes, etc.)?
  1. Propuesta de Hannah: fecha permanente para facilitar la programación/la gente recuerda/poner en el calendario BAM, etc.
  2. Anne: de pie, Mike: encuesta
  3. Propuesta: primeros lunes del mes: presentación y ver si alguien está molesto al respecto

Asistentes: Hannah, Ira , Anne, Sophie, Annie, Frank

Notas: (ver arriba en verde)

Próximos pasos: enviar la agenda al chat

  1. Traducción de la mesa de toma de decisiones al español (annie) y cantonés (anne para comunicarse con la traducción al cantonés) y luego imprimir (sophie) – traerá al ayuntamiento
  2. Investigación sobre precios para la propuesta de regalo de vacaciones (anne) – propondrá en el ayuntamiento
  • El siguiente paso sería hacer los pedidos y coordinar los detalles si obtenemos la aprobación
  1. Traducir la tabla de investigación al español y enviarla a un grupo más grande ( además de recordar mensualmente) (hannah)
  2. En el futuro, las reuniones de alimentos serán el primer lunes de cada mes (a menos que haya oposición)

Temas para enfocarse en la próxima reunión de alimentos Distribución de

  1. Woodbine: se trabajará y se discutirá más seriamente en la próxima reunión de alimentos
  2. Declaración de misión: necesidad concentrarnos en esto en la próxima reunión de alimentos


Meeting November 8, 2022

In attendance: Anne, Frank, Ira, Gina, Sophie, Magdalena, Jose, Hannah, Michael

Notes:

  • Money:
  • Summaries from Gina
  • Suggestion from Anne - In the future is we want to work with Star Route, maybe we set a specific Star Route budget to use with them to help negotiate instead of asking them to donate
  • What are we spending (averaged over the last 3 distros)
  • Total spend:
  • Per set:
  • What are we buying/where from:
  • Frank - Make sure to emphasize Star Route’s impact on spending when presenting and let people know that we want to talk about this more in depth and set a budget for this or maybe adjust the overall budget for this in the spring when we have a more stable idea of our spending and maybe have explored all possible vendors
  • Sophie - Agreed, table for a winter town hall so we are organized and in agreement for the spring
  • Ira - Raised a question about whether we had informed community members about what Star Route is and why it is important to work with them and why we want to prioritize spending with them
  • The group agreed that in general if we want to purchase from them in the future we should talk to the community and BAM at large to discuss whether we want to work with them and what that means for overall spending
  • Talk to the group about mission alignment
  • Anne - Suggested making statement of values
  • Sonya - Suggested revisiting the Vision Statement she put in the values doc to see if we can come up with guiding principles
  • Tell people the food ordering framework that we are using
  • Figure out what is driving the decisions that the food team is making
  • Jose - Tell people how we decide what goes in the sets, how we set the number of sets, and then how we source the food
  • Sophie - Mission aligned v cheapest possible
  • Anne - bigger question is if we are spending $15k and bringing in $9k, how do we solve for that?
  • What do we think about pitching to the group the options
  • Michael - pitch proposals to the group at town hall
  • What are the proposals?
  • Keep spending at the same rate / rely and hope for holiday donations
  • Cut confirmed appointment numbers per distro (figure out how much we would have to cut to hit whatever budget)
  • Cut something out of the sets to reduce cost per set (also calculate what would have to be cut and what the impact would be)
  • Michael - Maybe figure out what we need to reduce spend per per set ($10 max, etc. or the specific items we need to remove)
  • Maybe also propose the value structure that is driving us
  • Hannah - I think this is a conversation for the much bigger group
  • Ira - Need a guiding ideology because other small groups are also probably facing this issue
  • Need to address it so that we don’t keep putting out a bunch of small fires
  • Think about what that toolkit looks like
  • Maybe sync up with the rest of the group on it and raise it as a general issue
  • Sophie and Sonya agreed
  • Sonya - Right now we are doing survival work, not really social work - Need to sync up as a group to figure out what the group wants to prioritize
  • Gina - Ordering team is pulling a lot of weight, maybe we can recruit some other people to try to fill ancillary rolls that can help round this out (communications around food, fundraising, sourcing talks)
  • Give people specific items that they can help with
  • Sophie - Maybe also someone who can spend more time reaching out to people who can make in kind donations
  • Gina - Maybe we can have some kind of shared research/memory bank document that people can work off of so that people don’t have to worry about retreading the ground that we already have
  • Ira - I think also that bringing more people in becomes much harder when we don’t have a cohesive idea around what our guiding principles are
  • Magdalena - Maybe propose two options for mission statements to present to the group
  • Ira - propose a loose proposal that we understand will be critiqued and changed so that it kicks it off
  • We may also realize that BAM is not synced up on certain ideas
  • Thinking about the sources of our food and the ethical implications
  • Think about two thorough but opposed mission statements to then present to the group
  • Frank - We will have a bit more a runway to build up a bit of a padding to explore some other options
  • Sonya - Add to proposal the idea of meeting in person once monthly as a food team
  • Hannah - Raised issue of this being such a small group, isn’t really reflective of the whole group
  • Maybe as simple as an open invite “food” meeting once a month that is used for any food decision making and proposals
  • Smaller things can stay in our little food ordering chat and maybe we can reinvite people to that chat (and maybe rename?)
  • Monthly meetings can be used for decision making and honing in on decision making
  • Moving forward, we would probably use them to address big changes that may impact our current ordering decisions
  • Small things about what produce to pick or whatever can stay in the chat
  • Sonya - something needs to be built into the mission statement that if you start an ad hoc project, you have to finish it

To do list before town hall:

  1. Background info (will flag which items)[c], including current spending and a general ask of whether we need to reduce or not (note when we would run out of money)
  1. **this decision can be temporary until we lock in decision making / see how holiday donations go
  1. 1-3 proposed mission statements[d]
  2. 3 proposed solutions if we decide as a group that we need to lower spending[e]
  3. List of volunteer roles[f] that could help ease the burden and help us evolve as a group
  1. May be something we can just briefly touch on and then send to the bigger chat after the meeting
  1. Invite/location/planning [g][h]for once monthly meetings in person for “food” at large
  1. At town hall - mention that we will be planning a meeting
  1. Bonus visuals[i]

Hannah’s Notes for Meeting on #3:

  1. Option 1:
  1. Keep ordering at roughly same pricing for 450 sets (~$5,681, for food per distro)
  1. Without fundraising, at current rate of donations, would run out of money April (? I think but Gina can confirm)
  1. Downside - We potential jeopardize the ability to carry on distros
  2. Upside - We provide as much food to as many people as possible immediately

*Both option 2 and 3 will also require that a maximum monthly food budget or ideal runway (number of months) is set so that everyone can know how far we take the calculations I will describe*

  1. Option 2:
  1. Confirm less appointments to reduce the total we order overall
  1. We would save roughly $1,360 per 50 appts (estimated to be 100 sets) reduced. Multiplied x2 that would result in $2,720 savings per month
  1. Calc = average cost per set over the last 3 distros ($13.60) x 50
  2. Would bring each distro cost to $4,471, so I think 50 appt reduction would stretch things about 2 more months (2 months savings = 1 more distro) with no extra donations
  1. Downside - We grow the backlog of folks waiting for food and the time the have to wait
  2. Upside - We stretch our money further to be able to carry on distros until we are able to raise more money
  1. Option 3:
  1. Provide less groceries in each set we are providing to people
  1. For most items, we are ordering the minimum amount we think makes for a reasonable portion, so, I do not think reducing the actual portions is a great option
  2. Alternatively, we could remove 1-3 items wholly from the sets
  3. At current costs, if we remove eggs, we will save $1,050 per distro, $2,100 per month. If we remove one dry good (rice or beans), we will save ~$400 per distro, ~$800 per month. If we remove one produce item (the most expensive we order), we will save ~$700 per distro, ~$1,400 per month.
  1. Note: We already eliminate the expensive items from purchasing options for produce, so we would be eliminating the most expensive cheap thing. Generally, this is plantains, which also seems to be the thing people always want to have.
  2. See calcs in Option 2 for roughly how long this would stretch current budget - eggs is roughly the same as 50 appts
  3. For dry goods and produce, I think the impact to fund another distro or month would take a while to accumulate (maybe past April)
  1. We could remove one item or multiple depending on the budget.
  1. Note:
  1. We have tried reducing food costs through alternate sourcing that fits within our limitations (weekends, limited driving range, mass quantities, etc.)
  1. We had a big breakthrough on egg prices thanks to a volunteer suggestion for St Nicholas Poultry and Frank sorting that out
  2. Currently, we are not having any luck finding cheaper prices, but we would love to have some people who can commit to checking in on this on an ongoing basis and keeping an eye out for new ideas + donations we can potentially use to try to offset costs

How to Reduce Food Spending

Option 1 - Same Spending

Option 2 - Cut Appts Per Distro

Option 3 - Cut Spend Per Set

Option 4 - [FILL IN THE BLANK]

What Is Changed

Nothing

50 less appts per distro (275 confirmed sets)

Remove eggs from sets (450 sets ordered)

Estimated Savings Per Distro

$0

$1,360 ($13.60 per set x 100 sets)

$1,050

Estimated Savings Per Month

$0

$2,720

$2,100

Downsides

Shortest runway

Backlog grows

Sets don’t have eggs

How Many Distros Savings Could Fund

(for food costs)

0

3

3

Cómo reducir el gasto en comida

Opción 1 - Mismo gasto

Opción 2 - Cortar citas por distribución

Opción 3: reducir el gasto por juego

Opción 4: llena el espacio en blanco

Lo que se cambia

Nada

50 citas menos por distribución (275 sets confirmados)

Retire los huevos de los sets (se ordenaron 450 sets)

Ahorros estimados por distribución

$0

$1,360 ($13.60 por set x 100 sets)

$1,050

Ahorros estimados por mes

$0

$2,720

$2,100

Desventajas

Posiblemente quedarse sin dinero en abril

Backlog se hace más grande

Los sets no tienen huevos

Cuántas distribuciones podrían financiar los ahorros

(para solo comida)

0

3

3

Intro: Food team wants to confirm with the larger group how to proceed with spending moving forward. Currently we are purchasing everything at the cheapest possible rate we can find.

Note: When I say “run out” of money, I mean run out of the excess money that is allowing us to carry on at this level. We would still have recurring donations and we may get other donations if we put more focus on fundraising efforts.

All options assume we stick at ~100 sets per distro for volunteers plus small buffer. I did not include Uhaul costs or volunteer food costs because those remain somewhat constant.

With one thing reduced for options 2 and 3, the overall spend per distro is ~$4,400/distro. So 2 months of savings would equal one more distro. With Dec, Jan, Feb, and March savings, that’s 1 more month (2 distros) funded by savings. April and May savings would fund 1 more distro.


[a]Took an initial stab at this but it certainly could use some more info/improvement. Also might be a little redundant with that spreadsheet with the calculator but I didn't want vols to get bogged down in the math details

[b]Took an initial stab at this but it certainly could use some more info/improvement. Also might be a little redundant with that spreadsheet with the calculator but I didn't want vols to get bogged down in the math details

[c]Gina on money, Frank who we order from/what we order/why we chose those places + collab with Rudy on Star Route background

[d]Anne, Jose, Sophie, Ira, possibly Rudy

[e]Hannah will tackle

[f]Shared doc to the larger chat? Look at structure doc for inspo and agenda from last town hall

[g]Hold for the group to scheme on post town hall

[h]Once schemed on, I'm happy to do the annoying logistics of this! (Annie)

[i]Magdalena