[Lapg] Community meal delivery - awesome idea!

[Joan Stevens]

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From: "noraleeed at aol.com" <noraleeed at aol.com>
To: ripe at lists.ripealtadena.com
Sent: Wed, August 1, 2012 9:41:55 AM
Subject: [RIPE] OT: Next step for RIPE?

mealku
Ted D'Cruz-Young has created "an online meal cooperative ... that connects home 
cooks who trade meals with the click of a mouse," reports Sumathi Reddy in The 
Wall Street Journal (7/2/12). Ted is also founder of Ideocracy, a marketing 
agency. His idea for a food cooperative, Mealku, "feeds on the growing 
popularity of local dishes, food swaps and community-supported agriculture." The 
Mealku model "revolves around a points-based system that requires members to 
both cook meals and receive them; members are required to maintain a certain 
point balance."

 Eventually, members will "pay $10 monthly dues," but for now there is no charge 
for the food, "though members pay a $7.75 transportation fee every time they 
order a meal, which pays for a fleet of bicycle messengers and the 24-ounce 
biodegradable bags to store the food, among other overhead expenses ... Members 
create profiles and post dishes offered up on a particular day. They write a 
narrative briefly explaining the meal, its ingredients, how it's prepared and 
what kind of food it is. Other members sign up for portions of the meal," which 
is then delivered by the bicyclists.
 
"We're still operating in an industrial age model in which we hoard everything 
as consumers, but we can't do it anymore," says Ted. "We need to get more from 
the depleted resources we have and share." Beyond food, the other resource 
involved is "trust" -- since all dishes come from anonymous sources. Because 
there's no money involved, Mealku is not subject to health-department 
regulations. But the cooperative provides all members with food-safety 
guidelines and conducts kitchen inspections. That's been good enough for 
Jennifer Polland, a Mealku member who says her kitchen inspection was 
"thorough," adding: "So far I've had really great experiences and I certainly 
haven't gotten sick and the food's been awesome." ~ Tim Manners, editor. 


Nora Lee
"'Now' is the operative word. You don't need endless time and perfect 
conditions. Do it now. Do it today. ~Barbara Sher
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