Food Stewards (FS)

Google Drive Link

Set the Budget

1. The Food Steward (FS) and the Treasurer (TR) usually work out a food budget together. They ought to confer first with their house members to find out how much meat or other costly foods the members want to eat and what sorts of guff food the house wants. Here is a sample budget. The budget is based on how many members there are and how much the house expects to spend per member.
2. Refer to the budget of the previous term, including how successful the previous food budget was. Did the house get charged an assessment for overspending on food? Was the food of decent quality? Include a 2% safety factor over what you expect to spend because it’s better to over budget than to be under budget. Remember that if you spend less than you budget, house members will get a rebate; if you spend more, house members will get an assessment.
3. Work with the treasurer to organize active spending tracking. Don’t wait till the end of the month or the next month to find out you’re over budget. Here’s a good example of how expenses could be tracked: Budget/Spending Tracking Fall 2016 – Winter 2017

Keep to the Budget

1. The easiest way to know whether you are staying within budget is to divide the semester’s food budget into weekly allotments. If you know exactly how much you are allowed to spend per week, you will have no problem staying within budget.
2. Keep track of how much money you spend on different food categories to help you predict what you will spend on them in the future. Keep track of how much money you have spent over-all and how much you have left to spend. It is normal to overspend the first month of ordering, so don’t be alarmed if you do.
3. Don’t forget to think of the big-picture budget. Going over 1 week doesn’t necessarily mean you’re over budget if it’s because you had to bulk some large things that are lasting a while (ex. toilet paper that’ll last you the semester), but do plan appropriately.
4. Tips for keeping your food costs down are
   1. Organize.
      1. Label shelves and food. Organized food storage makes keeping inventory infinitely easier. It also makes it easy for cooks to locate what they need for a meal. It’s imperative you stay organized for multiple reasons: it facilitates your ordering, allows you to budget, and can aid communication between FS, TR, and housemates. Spreadsheets can help this.
   2. Keep good inventory or here’s another sample inventory.
      1. The FS should always have a general idea of what food is in the house. They should inventory all the food supplies every week or so.
         1. “Trust no one,” says one long-serving FS. Unless you see the need for something yourself or have a good source telling you explicitly, you can’t be 100% sure that something’s actually [not] needed.
         2. Nobody will ever tell you buy staples, basic things our house should always have, so be sure that YOU are thinking about them all the time (bread, eggs, milk, frozen fruit for smoothies, bananas, oil, etc., etc., etc.)
         3. Try to mentally track consumption so you start getting an idea of how much of something to buy. Order histories can help this, too!
5. Order in bulk and full crates.
   1. This can tremendously decrease your food costs. If you don’t think you could use a whole crate of onions on your own, try sharing them with another ICC house. And when you buy things in bulk–they cost more up-front but will save money in the longer run.
6. Preserve your food.
   1. Lots of money can be lost through improper handling of food, which then spoils and is thrown out. Keep your cooks and members informed about proper food handling and about what foods have been ordered for their menus.

Check the Budget

1. Save all of your receipts
2. Enter information into the spreadsheet to check your purchases against the budget
3. Check your ordering receipts against what was received
4. Check your receipts against your statements: credit accounts, bank accounts, ICC transactions, and credit cards; it’s easy to make mistakes with the volume of charges we’re making.

What to Order

1. Survey members: Poll members for allergies and food wishes. Here is Allergy Info. Here is a sample survey.
2. Listen to member requests. Somewhere in the kitchen there should be a list where members can jot down foods they would like or that they notice as missing in the house. You might also want to give housemates some guidance about how they should make requests to you: on the list, email, office hours, but not just face-to-face.
3. Plan, plan, plan what you’re going to buy and try to let the house see it before you order. It’s easy to miss things and the last thing the house needs is 60 bunches of cilantro, when maybe you were only trying to order 6!
4. Keep a list or spreadsheet of staple items your house uses, and keep inventory of those items. This will decrease duplicate purchases and help keep your house from running short and having to make emergency runs to the store.
5. Splitting orders.

Where and How to Order

1. Vendors (see below for specifics): the ICC has negotiated with a number of vendors. If you regularly want to purchase from somewhere that’s not on our list, let us know.
2. Getting food delivered:
   1. Be sure vendors have access to your house to make deliveries on the days you schedule deliveries.  If you can’t be sure someone will be home, you may be able to provide your door code for delivery.
   2. This also means having driveways clear of cars and/or snow.
   3. Check your orders when delivered – check every item before signing the receipt. A lot of times an item won’t be delivered off the truck at all, sometimes they’ll have it on the truck and will go back to get it for you.
   4. If an item isn’t delivered, you’ll need to follow up with the Vendor to either get credited for the purchase, or have it sent/picked up another time.
3. Purchasing Food at the Store
   1. Think before you buy! Since it’s not bulk you should have in mind exactly what quantity you’ll need, especially if it’s for some special dinner.
   2. It’s good to make your own list separate from the list people gave.
   3. Double check what’s being purchased online and the timing of arrivals — minimize overlap if possible.
4. Purchasing online
   1. When it comes to online ordering, if you have previous orders on hand you can just copy-paste repeat items instead of constantly searching for them.
5. Zingerman’s bread is available free from one of the houses – it rotates, but be sure to Do it. Check the ICC slack channel – on the food trades channel – to see who’s got it this year. #foodtrade

When to Order

1. Food and money waste can be a serious issue, so think about quantities and timing of purchases. (ex. Not a great idea to bulk order toilet paper during the last week of the Fall-Winter semester or to buy a bulk order of beets that’ll never get eaten).
2. Work Holiday: coordinate food orders with other officers for increased savings on supplies.
3. Also, here’s when you could consider organic/fair trade/conventional
4. Review the seasonal food information. Some foods are much cheaper at certain times during the year. Some foods are not available at all during certain times. Seasonal foods cost less and provide more nutrition when they are most in season.
5. This inventory sheet can be used to communicate kitchen and bathroom/cleaning supplies that are needed with the Kitchen Manager and the Work Manager. By combining orders for food with supplies and equipment, you can build larger orders and save money by having more purchasing options. Make sure they let you know if they update it.

1. Cash/check – you’ll want to minimize the times you have to pay with cash, check, or get reimbursed with a check. As much as possible, use your house credit card or purchase on account.
2. Credit – You’ll have a Citi Costco Visa card which can be used at Costco as well as anywhere else that Visa is accepted. Use it wisely!
3. Charge – We have established charge accounts at a number of vendors, especially for Maintenance.
   1. For instructions on which maintenance vendors we have accounts with and how to use them, please refer to the charge accounts section of the maintenance website.
4. The ICC has charge accounts for the following food vendors, as of 7/27/21:
   1. Barry’s Bagels, Calder Dairy, Frog Holler, and GFS. GFS is our primary charge account for food. You can charge both online and in-store purchases.

1. Why it’s important to communicate with your house: Food builds community. Even folks who are less present in daily house functions often come to dinner. It might incentivize members to be more involved! We own our homes and cooperate collectively for the mutual benefit of members. This includes food! With food purchased by the house EVERYONE should be able to consume it. And, It’s everyone’s $! As members of a cooperative we pool our money to purchase items that everyone can consume.
2. Communicate to the house as much as needed – don’t be afraid to shoot an email/text/whatever if you have a question! Better to get it right then get it wrong!
   1. Slack channel – Create separate channels for food requests and cooks.
   2. House meetings – Perfect time to set the standards and limitations.
   3. House officers – Work with them. Talk to them. They are there to help!
3. Here are some common issues that arise:
   1. When cooks don’t have all the ingredients for their recipes it may disrupt house dinners.
   2. Be sure to separate cooks’ food from GUFF food.
   3. Some folks may be upset when they put in a food request and it’s not purchased quickly/at all. Discuss expectations about availability and restocking.
   4. Expensive Food/Out of a product – You have the right to NOT purchase expensive/unsustainable products. Try to find similar products.
   5. Alcohol and drugs MAY NOT be purchased with house funds as per ICC standing rules.
   6. Guests eating food – Each house has their own guest policy. You are responsible for your own guests. They are not paying for the food.
   7. Running Low – Hold housemates accountable to communicate to you when a bulk item is running low. Also, check supplies weekly.
   8. The House Card – You hold a lot of power with the house card. Do not abuse it, do not give it out, and respect your position.

1. Supercook is a great website where you can add all of the ingredients in your kitchen and it’ll show you what you can make – we can usually make 15,000+ using only the ingredients in our kitchen. You can set up an account with the FS email that the house can access.
2. What can be frozen:
   1. Tortillas
   2. Bread (esp. Zingerman’s)
   3. Daiya
   4. Coffee
   5. Earth balance
   6. Tofu
   7. Tempeh