Cutting food & campsite costs

[boomerscout]

"But they'll definitely last for the several months between campouts."

This is technically true as long as the canned goods are stored in a cool place. Leave them in the trailer, and the trailer parked out in the sun, canned goods will have such a high bacteria count -- well befoew the expiration date -- that Scouts at camp will get sick and no-one will know why

[boomerscout]

Cutting the cost of equipment (we all know equipment wears) leaves more dollars for the rest of the program. Since Scouting is technically an educational activity, I do believe the troop can collect Campbell's soup labels and General Foods labels to be redeemed for new troop equipment. I don't know if the labels can be redeemed for camp fees.

 

Hey, Basement:

What festivals, special events are held within your immediate area? Is there a safe park nearby that people go to at lunchtime?

[Stosh]

If one is worried about the nutritional loss from canned goods over time, one can be rest-assured that 90% of all the nutritional value is take out of the food at canning time. Dried fruits, meats and vegetables have had their water removed, not their nutrition.

 

Invest in a book that specializes in edible plants in your area and then spend a training time looking for them. It's all free if one finds the items that the boys may like. I just spent a week at summer camp and had fresh berries on my cereal every morning. The boys ate the pancakes and bacon and I snagged up all the cereal they didn't want and spent each morning collecting a couple of hands full of berries to the fare.

 

Hmmmm, fresh berries and cereal with milk vs. pancakes, syrup and bacon/sausage. Nutritionally, I win.

 

In case nobody realized it, there are a lot of free camping places in the area. I live on the Mississippi River and its tributaries and there are a lot more sandbars than there are campers. Works for me.

 

Maybe we'll do a collecting wild rice weekend this fall. Or would it be better to just buy a box at the store?

 

Stosh

[boomerscout]

"Invest in a book that specializes in edible plants in your area and then spend a training time looking for them"

Good idea! Euell Gibbons once fed a group of people with plants he gathered in Central Park.

Many big city parks & rec departments put on nature walks. The ones on wild plants would be worth attending several times; could take the place of a troop meeting as a change of pace

[CalicoPenn]

Stosh,

 

It will be more cost effective to buy your wild rice in a store than to try to have the Troop harvest it.

 

In Wisconsin, wild rice harvesters between the ages 16-65 must purchase an annual license which is $8.25/year. Minor age children may harvest under a license holder's license but must reside in the same household as the license holder. Essentially, you would need a parent or older sibling of each Scout along for the harvest.

 

You can only harvest in a boat no longer than 17' long and no wider than 36" wide. Rice may only be harvested during the open season, which isn't date specific - it varies by waterway based on when the rice is ripe. You may not get a notice of a season opening until 24 hours before it does - not good for planning.

 

Still, it does sound like a lot of fun - and work - but if cost is the issue, at about $6 - $8 per pound, buying is the better deal. If, however, you're doing it because it would be a fun and unique experience, and the Troop can be a bit flexible in their planning, then I think that would be a great outing - if I'm remembering where you're from correctly, it's about 3 hours to the rice waters - and since collecting can't start until 10 am (to give the rice a chance to dry from overnight dew), you could easily do this - heck - you might even be able to arrange a visit from native rice harvesters to teach techniques and lead the group.(This message has been edited by CalicoPenn)

[Basementdweller]

Ya know, That is probably the biggest complaint about our program. Food costs. It sounds to me like it is pretty reasonable. I am going to turn my sensitivity to money down a bit. sounds to me like a $10-15 camp out is not out of line and maybe a bit of a bargain.

 

 

 

[moxieman]

I know the topic is cutting food/campsite costs. However, if our district ever tried to charge $35 for Klondike Derby, guess what? No one would attend.

 

Sounds to me like your district activities committee needs to do some cutting back of their own unless that $35 included all meals...and then some other extras. Our past few we've charged less then $10 for day trippers and $15 for the overnight crowd. Overnighters get Dinner/breakfast as part of their fee.

 

District camporee--our last one few were $5 per person if you paid by the "early bird deadline) and $8 otherwise. We keep our supply costs down and as such can keep the camporee fee down. Our two biggest costs are patches and port-a-potties. We usually can secure the site for camporee at a reduced or free rate depending on the organization or landowner in question (Past two spring ones were free--fall one was $100--the city's mass-gathering permit fee). The only time we charged $15 that I can recall was when we got a deal on a "surprise" fireworks display for Sat. evening of camporee--"surprise" as in the scouts didn't know it was going to happen.

 

So, what are you getting from your district for your high-priced events? Is it worth it? If not, as others have said, don't attend and let your district folks know why. And this advice is from one of those "district folks".

[Missouri_COR]

One idea makes use of the fact we have access to freezer space @ the CO (or a parents house) and we have some dads/uncles in the unit that like to hunt deer. There are certain individuals that are going to hunt and donate the meat to a local butcher. Instead we have them invite some of the older scouts to help grind the meet into 1# packages. Our basic costs are the wrapping paper/plastic and tape for the meat. We then have a freezer full of venison and the boys plan their meals using ground meat; taco, burritos, spaghetti, add spices to make sausage, chilli, burgershire soup, hamburgers, etc. The costs of the protein is very inexpensive on a per pound basis. A side benefit is the meat is very lean, so any issues with grease are non-existant.

 

The adults are going to hunt anyway and buy the tags, so that is really not part of the cost. NOTE: We tend not to announce to the boys they are eating venison, some have an issue with it. But after a year of eating it, what are they going to say?

[Stosh]

Yes... Wisconsin and Minnesota both have licensing requirements, but for a few $$'s the boys can learn the importance of edible grains. They might also be able to harvest cattails and arrowhead while they are out there waiting for 10:00 am. There's no restriction on those plants. Also the 16 year old limit might be something for the older boys to focus on. Keep it in mind I don't expect the boys to subsist for the weekend on this process, just to give them the idea that all their supplies don't need to come from a can. At the end of the day, a buffet of all the different foods could be cooked up and the boys could sample the different foods to see what they might like and/or not like. I wonder if the boys would be interested in making home-made dandelion wine.

 

"High Adventure" Smrgsbord...

 

Stosh

[pinkflame]

For inexpensive ideas for trail food. check out trailcooking.com and go to the section called "freeezer bag cooking 101". They have basic recipes that the boys can experiment with and then taylor to thier own tastes, all using zip loc freezer bags and any number of cozies for heat retention while the ingredients "cook". The website has some commercial products, but they are not necessary for most of the recipes. I did a demo a few months ago at roundtable and made o point of only buying my ingredients at the local supermarket.

 

Of course, if some of the guys get into it they might decide to learn how to dehydrate food ar they might want to spring for a supply of shelf-stable cheese. If so, more power to them

[Stosh]

An old box fan, paper furnace filters and a couple of bungee cords and you can dehydrate food very inexpensively!

 

Just remember, just because it's not a skill that is suggested by BSA literature doesn't mean you can't teach it to the boys.

 

Stosh

[Basementdweller]

Camporee

 

Campsite rental, Insurance, patches, Supplies.

[boomerscout]

"just because it's not a skill that is suggested by BSA literature doesn't mean you can't teach it to the boys."

 

on the contrary! Boys Life for September, 1950 had a good intro to dehydrating food. The article is titled Featherweight Chow

 

[CalicoPenn]

Alton Brown - Boy Scout. Who knew?

[kari_cardi]

'If one is worried about the nutritional loss from canned goods over time, one can be rest-assured that 90% of all the nutritional value is take out of the food at canning time. Dried fruits, meats and vegetables have had their water removed, not their nutrition.'

 

I must disagree. Canned food retain the majority of their nutrients and several nutrients, like carotenes and lycopene, are actually more available after the canning process as compared to fresh fruits and vegetables. The protein content of canned meats is virtually unchanged. Here is a reference in case you want to read more. http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/032598c.pdf I do agree that proper storage of canned goods in a cool, dry, place is important for safety and quality.

 

Dried fruits and vegetables have lost a good amount of their water-soluble vitamins with the water that is evaporated during the drying process. Vitamin C and the B vitamins are the ones most affected. Since drying changes the density of the food, dried fruits and vegetables still remain a good source for all the nutrients even though they are not the same as fresh.

 

As far as cutting food costs while camping, as said before, the best way is to reduce dependence on convenience/prepared foods and cook from scratch. I make my own pancake mix, baked goods, spaghetti sauce, etc., much more cheaply than I can buy them, and they taste much better. However, it does require more prep time and cooking skills to do so.