Monday Night Dinner

There is a general truth that if you feed them, they will come.

In college they always had problems achieving quorum at Plenary* until they closed all the dining halls that day and only served food at Plenary. This doesn’t necessarily say much about the student investment in the democratic process of student government. It does however say a lot about how to get 1200 college students to turn up for something.

So far the most successful program my roommate has ever run for teens in her library is the one where she brought in cupcakes for them to decorate. College students will show up for food in general. Teenagers will show up for sugar.

I don’t have a problem getting people to come to Dinner. I do have a small problem getting them to turn up on time. However, the universal truth of Dinner is that if you serve it, they will arrive. It’s like magic. As soon as you put food on the table, the door will open and the missing guests will appear. This works so often, that on the rare occasion that it doesn’t work, I’m always surprised. Read the rest of this entry »

Fundamentally I’m a fairly lazy person.  I’ll buy the organic, local food that’s grown without pesticides that minimizes my carbon footprint and comes from humanely treated animals, but only if it’s convenient.  I’ll walk up to the farmer’s market at Government Center and I’ll lug home a dozen ears of corn, but I won’t drive out of my way to go buy it.  The trick to getting me to do the socially responsible thing is to make it really really easy.

It does not get easier than having it delivered to your doorstep before you go to work. Read the rest of this entry »