Camp Food /Camp Budgets

[Eamonn]

Back when I first attended our Summer Camp the food was fair to good.

The cooks were two Ladies, who were cooked in School meal service the rest of the year.

They really worked hard making everything from scratch. This was a long time ago.

Of course now school meals are offered year round so people like that are just not available.

We then went to a Scouter who became the camp cook.

Sadly he was (is) about the most disagreeable person I ever met in my life.

Over time the camp kitchen became his kitchen.

He became well known for being very cranky and very rude.

The kitchen was never clean.

The camp is used on weekends for Cub Scout parent and son weekends and there was always an on going conflict about who used what and who left what not done.

He refused to participate in any sort of inventory or cost control. The food budget was through the roof.

We had a very hard time finding youths who wanted to work in the kitchen.

These kids worked their tails off. In hot humid and at times very unpleasant conditions.

It also seemed that the Lad's who worked in the kitchen were looked upon as the lowest of the low.

Bringing in a Food Service company, while it has been a rocky road, has meant that they take care of the staffing. They work within the set budget and the Council doesn't have to work with vendors and paying lots of different bills and invoices.

Councils do need to tell the company what they want. The Council needs to sit down and participate in planning the menu and hold weekly meetings with the Food Service management team. Not the cook!!

Last year when the food at camp was really bad, it seemed that everyone was complaining, but the reservation director never took the complaints to the company.

Most campers are willing to accept that camp food is not as good as the food that Mom cooks and even with the best menu planning not everyone is going to be happy.

Many camps have kitchens that are very badly equipped. Our Council did break down and buy a couple of commercial convection ovens, but the other equipment is all stuff that was donated. I swear the mixer came from a World War I battleship, the slicer is rusted and is next to impossible to clean.

I know if were in Allegheny County the health inspectors would close the kitchen down.

Of course justifying the expense of food service equipment that is only used for seven weeks of camp and two weeks of staff camp is hard.

Camp budgets never seem to have a built in depreciation of equipment built in. We wait till the band aids and duct tape no longer work and scramble to find the funds to replace what needs replaced.

We seem to be contend to spend money fixing things rather than making them a budget item and replacing them.

Food to feed a growing Lad for a week at camp will cost about $60.00 (food cost) Labor will cost about $50.00 an hour. Our normal week at camp has about 200 campers. So the labor cost for food service runs about $15.00 per camper per week. $75.00 is a big chunk of what we charge for summer camp. That doesn't cover the cost of utilities.

I don't know what is happening in other Councils? But it seems to me that when our Council Camping Committee meets to set the price of camp, many of the committee members attend with the idea of coming away with passing as small an increase as they can.

They do this without any real idea of what the real costs are.

I'm all for keeping costs down and as affordable as we can. But if we are going to ensure that camp is still there for future campers we need to really take a long hard look at what we are really spending and where we are spending it.

 

I get a little upset when I see all the equipment that we have come out for seven weeks and then get packed away again till next summer!!

I understand that we can't offer a fully staffed camp for more weeks (In fact we could reduce the weeks to six as week seven is very poorly attended) But units could still go to the camp and pay to use the equipment. Cub Scouts could go up for the day or the weekend as packs and maybe the kitchen could be manned by volunteers who could run it as a snack bar selling hot dogs and burgers. Units who didn't want to cook (Those who are using camp as a base for the off site activities) could book meals ahead.

We have all this stuff, which is wearing out, not from use but from old age and being stored. It was bought for the youth to use.

When I suggested this I was informed that if we were to do this it would take campers away from summer camp.

Eamonn.

 

[Fuzzy Bear]

The Question:

 

Let's say that a Scouter came in from out of nowhere and he looked the part but he was holding in his "hands" an envelope. He mutters something about having the only complete and satisfying answer to the camp food question in the universe. He places the envelope on the head table in the dining hall and then he disappears.

 

All of the Summer Camp Decision Makers are present for this performance. They walk slowly up to the table and read what is written on the outside of the envelope. It says, "If you open and read this all of your problems will be solved regarding Camp Food."

 

What decision would they make regarding the Answer and if they did read it, what would be their motivation?

 

FB

[scoutldr]

How can I describe this year's camp cuisine? Flashback to your typical elementary school hot lunch from 1965, 35 cents, including a half pint of milk. That was it. Everything out of a can or freezer bag, including the french toast sticks and egg disk things made from powdered eggs and then frozen. I think think they were discards from Burger King. Mayo-based pasta salad served at room temperature, which we refused to eat based on food safety rules. No juice or milk for breakfast, except to put on the generic sugar bomb cereal. The kids ate mostly PBJ sandwiches 3 meals a day. The adults ate mostly salad (the salad bar was the only saving grace). The hot food was heavy and greasy, while we were having 90+ degree/70% humidity weather every day. The kids unanimously voted the best meals were when we made foil dinners (jazzed up with spices we brought with us)in the site Thursday (staff night off), and had grilled BBQ chicken, baked potatoes and corn on the cob (we made ourselves) for family night on Friday. The best part for me was we didn't have to don our "Class A" and sit and sweat in the 110 degree dining hall for an hour.

 

Managing the dining hall was a college-age camp staffer and a staff of younger scouts. Our best years were when we had a 35-year veteran retired Army Sgt mess cook, and some years when we had a staff of nice ladies from the local community who could cook southern soul food just like grandma. They all quit after disputes with the Camp Director.

 

This year we paid $180 per person...the most ever.

[CA_Scouter]

Last year we tried a new camp and the food was really bad. For example, they tried to pass off Top Ramen as chow mein. Yuck. There food could legimately be called 'slop'.

 

This year we returned to Camp Marin Sierra, where we always had good food. We again were not disappointed. Food was fresh, meals well balanced, plenty of seconds and tons of salad. Cold, cold milk for breakfast, in addition to the breakfast burritos ( the first day ), you had fresh fruit and all the cereal you could eat. Juice also. Always a PBJ table for lunch, plenty of COLD drinks for meals.... this place has always been excellent for food!

 

Also, its outdoor seating under a huge canopy of trees... no stuffy indoor seating, which is really nice during this current heat wave.

 

Program and staff are good also. Good sized lake, high adventure program, and more.. Obviously, we really like this place and some of the scouts already asked to go back there next year.

 

The program director told me they had a troop from Kentucky coming out next week. Pretty cool.

 

 

[Lynda J]

Our troop went to Slippery Falls Scout Ranch in Tishomingo Ok, this summer. Iwill have to say that the food was good for camp food. One thing that really impressed me was they had a great salad bar at lunch and dinner. Ham, black olives, the works. The only day I didn't eat what they served was the meatloaf day and sorry I don't eat meatloaf.

[oldsm]

You can read the food review for my troop's camp elsewhere ("And How Was Your Summer Camp Experience?" and "Camp Quality").

 

Scoutldr, by way of comparison, we paid $280 this year (up $20 from last year). Maybe the difference between our cost and yours is partly responsible for the quantity/quality of food? Of course, the relationship between the camp director and the staff (including kitchen staff) plays a big part, too. Maybe it's time to find another camp to attend - let your pocket do the talking.

 

Edited by oldsm to correct thread names...(This message has been edited by oldsm)