Snacks, Junk Food and Meal time

[Tampa Turtle]

Always was a Hydrox man myself. (it came 1st) I don't think Oreos taste as good as when they had lard in the cream. Kinda like the beef tallow in the McD's fries--don't know what you are missing until they are gone.

 

Funny thing about Scouts and camp food is that many boys will eat things they would be reluctant to eat at home. My sons will eat things -- Rooster Sauce, summer sausage, sardines, kippers, squab, sushi--that they would not touch at home. Some things like Nutella they will gobble down camping and not touch if available at home.

 

We try to steer the scouts to these different "exotic" foods rather than junk foods.

 

[shortridge]

boomer and basement -

 

My issue with the junk food isn't extra calories, food cost or food waste. It's the example that Scouting ought to be setting of good and healthy food. Sure, if you're a triathlete, you can eat three greasy cheeseburgers a day and suffer very few ill effects. But the vast majority of Scouts and Scouters aren't in that fitness category. There are far better, healthier options out there.

 

Don't get me wrong - I like me some junk food from time to time, could stand to lose a few pounds and am certainly no health nut. But we in Scouting should be snacking on pretzels and drinking water vs. Doritos and Mountain Dew.

 

And since cooking is a central part of the Scouting program (or should be) - well, how do you cook a Dorito or a Snickers bar? Our Scouts and Venturers ought to know how to cook stuff from scratch. And they'll soon realize that it really does bring down your costs, too, to cook rather than buying processed, pre-packaged foods.

[boomerscout]

Shortridge:

I agree with everything you say. However, teenage males are two legged eating machines. Unless you are attending a merit badge camp where everyone marches in lockstep, could they not just do their patrol cooking later than everyone else - such as when they are next hungry?

You asked about cooking a Snickers, so here is the recipe

Freeze solid the Snickers, roll in funnel cake batter until well coated. Deep fry until it turns a golden brown. Remove from fryer & quickly drain. Top with powdered sugar or hot caramel sauce and serve.

[shortridge]

Touche on the fried Snickers.

[KC9DDI]

I once saw a variation on cobbler involving snickers bars, marshmellows, cake mix and pudding. Terrible for you, but tasted pretty good about 4 days into summer camp :-)

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

Where has all the zeal for "boy leadership" and "patrol method" gone? Now helicopter scouters want to micro-manage the boys' camping experience right down to their diet? And even enlist the aid of helicopter parents to interfere with this wonderful opportunity for boys to learn from their dietary mistakes?

 

 

[shortridge]

"Now helicopter scouters want to micro-manage the boys' camping experience right down to their diet?"

 

CC -

 

I can only assume that you've never actually read any of the program materials that we use in Scouting. I just read the sections on cooking, food and health in the BSH (11th ed., only copy I had at hand), and nowhere does it encourage Scouts to eat unhealthily in order to learn valuable lessons. What it does tell Scouts is to "Eat a balanced diet that includes foods from the food pyramid" and "Try to limit the amount of sugary foods and beverages you eat and drink."

 

I know you're obsessed with your rants against "helicopter Scouters," but you might try actually studying the Scouting program first.(This message has been edited by shortridge)

[Tampa Turtle]

Most Car camping adventures will survive the poor selection of food stuffs but add a 10 mile hike or do a 3-4 day high adventure and the careful selection of the food-fuel you take becomes very important. So proper nutrition training and cooking on those first camp-outs becomes important.

 

Funny is if the boys get hungry enough they will eat the healthy stuff. The extra bag of apples or oranges always gets eaten.

 

The Dutch Oven concoctions can get pretty unhealthy--we adults call them

 

(As to fried stuff, I just went to our State Fair and do not think there were ANY foods you could not find fried--Oreos, Candy Bars, Coke, any kind of meat, water, fruits. My personal favorite was the the good 'ol bacon cheese burger with Krispy Kreme buns AND then deep fried and served with ice cream and fudge. No I did not eat it.)

[Eagledad]

>>I know you're obsessed with your rants against "helicopter Scouters," but you might try actually studying the Scouting program first

[Basementdweller]

So Callooh

 

How would you like a boy who skipped breakfast and got sick just before the troop started some big expensive event????? So because of this young mans poor choice the entire group suffers. Some of this stuff can be pretty expensive.

 

 

As a parent I am mad because I see my money being tossed in the trash. I am going to be you never have dealt with young men sugar crashing on a backpacking trip or day hike?????

 

Helicopter basher yes I am......

 

So Callooh, where do you draw the line?????

 

As SM you have a scout show up for the klondike with no heavy outer wear, what is your

responsibility????

 

As SM you have a 100 pound scout show up for the Backpacking trip with a 50 pound pack???

 

Or the scout who shows up to a summer hike with no water bottle.

 

It is my opinion that a leader who does not intervene is negligent. We have sent scouts home for not showing up with appropriate foot wear or outer wear. So is it ok to let a boy dehydrate, blister his feet or get hypothermia just to teach him a lesson. Nope.

 

 

[shortridge]

"I do think pre-camp shakedowns are a lazy and impatient style of guiding scouts to change behavior."

 

If they're used as a punitive technique, sure. But not if they're used as they should be - educational experiences led by the PL - NOT Scouters - that includes a review of the trip conditions, activities, patrol gear and individual gear.

 

Or do you consider Tenderfoot requirement No. 1 a lazy and impatient requirement?

[Eagledad]

>>Or do you consider Tenderfoot requirement No. 1 a lazy and impatient requirement?

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

"I can only assume" --------- Are you sure there are no other options?

 

"I know you're obsessed with your rants against "helicopter Scouters," but you might try actually studying the Scouting program first." --------- Rants? Please sir, those were treatises... dissertations... expositions. Rants? What a hurtful charge.

 

"How would you like a boy who skipped breakfast and got sick just before the troop started some big expensive event????? So because of this young mans poor choice the entire group suffers. Some of this stuff can be pretty expensive." ----------- I would be displeased if I suspected his illness was due to skipping breakfast, but would be surprised at myself for entertaining such a flimsy theory about it. I'd also be stunned if somewhere among us, we didn't have some trail mix or something he could eat - maybe some of that junk food we were supposed to confiscate from the other boys. Skipping one meal does not make a healthy person sick... not even on days when they exert themselves. I would assume his sickness was due to something more serious or possibly more of an attitude than an illness (but I'd prefer to err on the side of taking him at his word about illness).

 

"I am going to be[t] you never have dealt with young men sugar crashing on a backpacking trip or day hike?????"----------- You're right. I haven't. And it's because, while blood sugar level variations within normal range happen to all of us, this debilitating "sugar crash" phenomenon doesn't occur in persons who don't have some serious underlying metabolic disorder. I understand that healthy people experience it as a seriously debilitating phenomenon... just like girls experience fainting at boy-band concerts... but boy bands are not the cause of the fainting. Tired, out of shape boys, are tired, out of shape boys, perhaps also experiencing heat, cold, dehydration, or just plain old hunger (as opposed to a "sugar crash"). They may also have been conditioned to believe in "sugar highs" and "sugar crashes" and that belief may contribute to exaggerated "experience" of normal variations in energy levels.

 

"So Callooh, where do you draw the line?????

As SM you have a scout show up for the klondike with no heavy outer wear, what is your

responsibility????" --------------Klondike!? Yikes! Where do I draw the line? I don't have to draw a line for that... the lines are already drawn at about 35 degrees North and 35 degrees south... anything outside those lines of latitude is a frozen and inhospitable wasteland into which only the self destructively insane venture. Konldike? Are you kidding? OK. I am... kidding, that is... I've done some subzero Fahrenheit camping and enjoyed it - I understand the appeal. So back to the question.... what's my responsibility? That's a rhetorical question right? You don't actually think I'll say "none" do you?

 

"As SM you have a 100 pound scout show up for the Backpacking trip with a 50 pound pack???"

Hmmmm.... I see a pattern here... this is another rhetorical question isn't it? What the heck is he carrying in that pack anyway? Wasn't he on any of the shorter walks we did to give each boy the experience that would help him plan for a "real" hike?

 

"Or the scout who shows up to a summer hike with no water bottle."

Lend him an extra. Be prepared.

 

"It is my opinion that a leader who does not intervene is negligent. We have sent scouts home for not showing up with appropriate foot wear or outer wear. So is it ok to let a boy dehydrate, blister his feet or get hypothermia just to teach him a lesson. Nope."

I agree... mostly. Certainly with the specific examples you've provided, I agree. You do not let a boy do himself serious harm in order to teach him a lesson. Patrol method and boy leadership be hanged, if it's a serious safety, health, or welfare issue.... you intervene. But, IMO, unless it's really bizarrely over the top, let them enjoy a bit of junk food. If it seems excessive, you may want to mention to a parent... "By the way Mr. Schmavitz, did you know that little (or maybe not so little) Edgar stuffs his pie hole with cheese doodles between meals on camping trips?"

 

And regarding the OP....... Huh? Only TWO large bags of Doritos? How far is that going to go? That's just enough for two servings. I mean we're talkin' Doritos here..... Although it's beyond me how they could possibly enjoy them without a microwave to melt the cheese on top... and maybe add some pickled jalapeno slices... mmmmmm.

 

[Basementdweller]

Well nutrition is a huge issue with our scouts.......

 

The scouts who eat a cheese doodles for breakfast go bonk after a maybe 5 or 6 miles of hiking......I carry protein bars and sports blocks to get them moving again.....It is a losing battle, they are only good for another half an hour or so before they crash again. I have dealt with it too often and that is one of the reasons I am ticked about it.

 

Do they learn nope......back at camp out come the chips and soda, then they skip dinner because they are full......

 

So poor nutrition impacts the entire group....

 

 

 

 

(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

[Twocubdad]

Well, the backpacking theory isn't a sure thing. This past weekend I had two boys who each packed four cans of Monster on a 10-mile trip. The took the Monster instead of water.

 

I found out after the trip. All I told them was, "don't do that again. First of all you don't need to be drinking that junk. Secondly, it's not fair to your patrol mates. You were supposed to be carrying water for the patrol to use. Did you cook dinner or clean up with Monster? No, you used the water someone else packed in. That's not how we do things."