Food as Social Fuel

Food is a vital social connector in intergenerational housing communities

As published by Foundation for Intentional Community

Funded by the Churchill Fellowship, I have visited 54 intergenerational communal housing models across Australia and the US, learning about the benefits (and challenges) of living in an intentionally social community where individuals or families have separate units, but share a range of spaces and amenities, contribute to shared decision-making and aim to consciously develop a more supportive and connected culture. 

One of the first things that came up in almost every community I visited was food. Whether I was speaking to residents of cohousing, tiny home villages, or cooperative housing, people kept returning to the same idea: food is the glue that holds a community together. It can bring people into shared spaces, facilitate conversation, and create a sense of belonging.

Breaking Down Barriers Through Food

Food naturally lowers social barriers. Sitting down to eat together encourages openness, whether it’s two neighbours sharing a cup of coffee and cake or a structured meal after a meeting. Some communities I visited deliberately placed meals after difficult conversations or decision-making meetings, acknowledging that food can diffuse tension and help people reconnect.

“I feel closest to people at meals - we can relax and enjoy each other, they’re always low tension times unlike house meetings which can be stressful” - resident, The Village Cooperative, San Francisco 

Beyond that, food serves as a powerful cultural bridge. In these communities it is commonplace for people from different backgrounds sharing dishes with one another, providing a window into each other’s histories and traditions in a way that feels organic and celebratory. In Hifi Collective in Los Angeles, cooking together - or for one another - became a way to break barriers and spark organic relationships. One staff member at Hifi Collective - a supported independent living apartment block for people who need stable housing, with a focus on intentionally building longterm community - said to me, “People here are from a real range of cultures, backgrounds and speak different languages… It's food that brings everyone together.”

Cooking also offers a way to teach and learn across generations. In one cohousing community in California, children and elders came together for an after-school club where baking served as a fun activity, a means of intergenerational exchange and a form of childcare for young parents. 

Of course, food isn’t always simple. Dietary requirements, allergies, and cultural preferences need to be considered to ensure meals are inclusive. Some communities opted for flexible models - like providing staple ingredients but encouraging people to bring their own toppings - to make shared meals more accessible. A resident Temescal Commons, Oakland said, ”Food is key - you have to make sure meals are inclusive. For instance if you want teens to join, offer pizza or burritos, not fish soup!”

How Food Features in Communal Living

Each community had its own way of embedding food into everyday life, but some recurring practices stood out:

• Food exchanges – communal spaces where people leave and swap food items. Often this would be food which has been grown on the property, for example, fresh produce is commonplace on LA Ecovillage’s ‘Freebie Table’.

• Growing food together – Many communities had shared gardens, “food forests,” or individual plots where residents grew and distributed produce, either working together or side-by-side. Gardening together was often raised as a key moment of interaction for residents, providing a relaxed and regular moment to connect. Some communities I visited, such as The Paddock ecovillage and Murundaka rental cooperative in Australia assign all residents (who want one) their own food plot.

• Regular communal meals - A staple of most communities, shared meals are organised in a variety of ways. Often residents cook for the community, or a smaller group, on a rota system. In some communities, every resident joins regularly, and for larger communities, smaller groups meet. Sometimes people from different units come together to cook, creating an additional opportunity for connection beyond households and across the community. In some communities, the challenges of allergies and dietary requirements has meant that people come together to eat regularly, but bring their own food instead of using a cooking rota. 

• ‘Potlucks’ – Highly popular in communal living spaces, ‘potlucks’ invite attendees to bring a dish of their choice, resulting in a wide range of dishes to choose from and share together. A simple yet effective way to bring people together, for some communities as regular as twice a week, or for others, organised around cultural, seasonal or celebratory moments.

• Community soup – Some communities, such as Santa Rosa Creek Commons, have a tradition of residents contributing vegetables or ingredients throughout the week for a shared soup at their monthly work day. 

• Rotating dinners - At Narara Ecovillage in New South Wales, for example, for a period after moving in, residents took turns hosting meals in their individual units, helping people see each other’s living spaces and build relationships.

• Happy hours and snack-based socialising – Whether it was a wine and cheese evening at Fair Oaks EacoHousing, or a weekly coffee and cake morning at The Paddock, structured but casual moments create consistent touchpoints for connection and food draws people in.

• Food co-ops and bulk-buying – Many communities ran self-governed food programmes, allowing residents to access produce sustainably and create deeper relationships through shared responsibility. 

• Acts of care through food – Many communities told stories of kindness which centred around food, for instance ’meal trains’ (residents taking it in turns to cook meals for others who were sick or had recently given birth), ‘secret angel’ gifting (people would give a specific individual small gifts regularly, often sweets or baked goods) and knocking on resident doors to invite them to meals if they have become more social withdrawn. At Goodness Village, a tiny home community for people exiting chronic homelessness, some residents took on parental or caregiving roles by cooking or shopping for others, shifting from survival mode into a more trust-based, communal way of living. This community also has an annual tradition where local volunteers act as waiters for residents in a fun and lavish moment of celebration. 

• Food as contribution - Not everyone in a community can participate in physically demanding work days, but cooking a meal or bringing baked goods offers an alternative way to contribute. Flexibility helps ensure that participation in communal life is accessible to more residents.

More than just a meal

The role of food in communal living goes far beyond sustenance. It is a way to build trust, celebrate culture, and help people to feel seen and supported. Whether through a structured dinner or an informal exchange of homegrown produce, food creates the conditions for connection in ways that few other rituals can.

Above all, food is an enabler of more connected communities. If we design living arrangements for connection, care and sustainability, then food will naturally find its place at the centre.