Ketchup - and efficiency

[Venividi]

> because experience taught them that most patrols never double check their boxes before menu planning to see what they already had available

 

That was our experience also. The scouts preferred to dump left over food into the 3 boxes of "leftovers", and then out of sight, out of mind. I had the quartermaster go through all the old food and distribute, contribute, or dump.

 

One of my favorite recollections was the number of containers of a certain brand of orange drink mix that accumulated in the box. The scouts wouldn't drink the stuff because it tasted bad, but yet, each month, the grubmaster from at least one patrol would would buy another container of the stuff. They stopped buying it once they had to take it home.

 

 

[1/4master]

Hey...As I was reading this post, I recognized that this was my troop, and that it was my suggestion that we save the condiment packets.

 

This issue came from a trip to the drive-through prior to a troop meeting...The local burger joint gave me 14 ketchup packets, none of which I asked for. It was then that I thought about a scout being "thrifty," and not throwing these away.

 

When I asked the boys to save them, I prefaced it with the "thrifty" clause, and mentioned that they could save them instead of discarding...I would never advocate taking them from a local restaurant.

[frankj]

The packet idea: The don't come 10,000 to a box, the amount is much smaller, like 100 or 500. Someone in our troop had occassion to purchase ketchup, hot sauce, relish in packet form. We got them from a distributor at cost, very reasonable price. I asked at a mini-mart where I get coffee every morning, "where do you get these condiment packs?" They gave me the name and phone number of their distributor, and when they were contacted and were told it was for the Scouts, they sold us the small quantity we needed at cost.

 

I don't like the idea of boys being encouraged to help themselves to extra ketchup at restaurants in order to stock up for campouts.

[SSScout]

In doing the camp cooking part of an adult leader training, I first had everyone repeat the 13th point of the Scout Law, "a Scout is hungry" and then repeat the CCA (camp cook axiom): " there is no food so mediocre that it can not be improved with ketchup (catsup, etc)".

 

Ketchup should be refrigerated over the long haul. I was once in my favorite "all-you-can-eat-" fish place. I first watched the waiter at the counter take the half empty Ketchup bottles and refill them with other half full bottles. Thrifty, yes? I then turned my attention to the bottle on my table and watched fermentation bubbles sslllooowwwlllyyy rise up from the bottom toward the top. I pointed this out to the manager and then asked for a new, unopened bottle of Hunt's.

 

Our troop has a policy that if you sign up for a trip, you pay your share of the food expense (prorated per meal) if you don't go, baring a real emergency reason.

 

Bon Apetit.

[scoutingagain]

My thoughts on ketchup.

 

1. If you are buying the large 64oz. size bottles you must be using the Troop method and are clearly subverting one of the 8 methods of scouting.

 

2. The appropriate size bottle of ketchup for a patrol is the standard 14 oz. bottle selling for around $1.25. If you are buying anything other than this size bottle you are not using the Patrol Method properly and need to be re-trained.

 

3. If there is a portion of the 14oz. left after a weekend of camping with a patrol of 6 or more scouts, menu selection should be modified for the next campout so that a full 14 oz. is used in one weekend campout. Ketchup can be used in a wide variety of foods and menus and if your not using the full 14 oz. your patrol is not getting the full nutritional value of this essential food. Think anti-oxidants.

 

4. Heinz ketchup is not approved for use by the BSA due to the fact it has the same name as the wife of a certain Senator that comes from a state that allows gay people to marry which is not providing a good role model for scouts.

 

5. Individual packets should only be used in the Lone Scout program.

 

SA

[1/4master]

Hey SA: What about mustard??

 

(hee hee)

 

1/4master

[LongHaul]

The individual packet idea for many of the condiments is great as long as you have a place to store them. Our main storage for patrol boxes, and therefore condiments, is our troop trailer which sits in the CCs yard. It freezes in winter and bakes in summer, packets explode or are tainted because even though they have a half life not an expiration date they have a temperature range for storage. We have gone to a troop bottle of ketchup, mustard, pancake syrup (tried using individual servings from our Pancake Breakfast and ended up with the same result as Lisabobs ice cream). At the end of each campout these are put in one cooler and inventoried, when menus are made for the next campout the boys must check what is available before they buy more.

LongHaul

 

[flmomscoutw3]

ScoutingAgain you really got my day going. Loved your last point! its Hunts for this family. I just sent my sons on a campout without Ketchup. (I know because one of my boys did the shopping). Does mustard have any anti oxidants? I guess I'll just have to them eat some when they get home on Sunday night-I hope they don't mind having burgers and fries for supper!

 

[scottteng]

We have had several shoppers forget to purchase condiments for the campout the boys survived but it is a lesson to the shopper when he incurs the wrath of his patrol mates for forgetting the catsup. For the little that a small bottle of catsup costs we will continue to put it on the list the little packets turn to catsup jell after a period of time. We are in a rather harsh climate for food spoilage here in Florida and a great climate for camping most of the year except during high summer when it may be too hot.