claire_58 | Brain Storm: Minimal Kitchen Facilities for Functional Collective Housing (Reply)

A comment about multi-generational living on the Frugal Friday post ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/286498.html sparked another line of questions for me. The commenter, Maxine, mentioned the family compound idea had been tried several times on the island where she lives. The ones where everyone had their own kitchens worked out while the ones where everyone had bed/sitting rooms with a breakfast nook and shared a kitchen didn’t. Other threads about insta-pots, solar ovens and cooking out doors going on at the same time got me thinking. What are the minimum kitchen facilities needed to make it work.

A full kitchen, stove, fridge/freezer, dishwasher, microwave etc and all the assorted smaller appliances for each household is expensive. As JMG has pointed out most potential eco-villages never get off the ground because most people can’t imagine anything less than the full comforts and conveniences of a middle class life in an era of abundance industrialism. If you, like me, have been “low tech hobbyist” (thanks to Misty Friday for the phrase) you probably can imagine living with less, maybe even much less.

So here we go. Imagine there is a full communal kitchen available to you. Your large volume food processing and cooking for large gatherings and parties can be done there. You also have your own private kitchen. What are the facilities you need to make your small kitchen complete?

Let’s assume that they all have running water at least. Electricity is also an option. What do you need for daily food prep to make it work? What are your must-have tools and appliances? Are there alternatives that might be viable? What could you easily do without? What modern conveniences would you most appreciate having? Do you want them all or could you make it work with less?

This is a brainstorm. Anything goes: high tech, low tech, modern, retro . . . What would you need? Curious Collapseniks want to know.