Scout Not Eating Patrol Menu at Campouts

[yelruh]

My son has a lot of sensory issues. Food is one of them. We also don't eat pork or shelfish, or mix meat and milk for religious reasons. He would often volunteer to do the grocery shopping, so that he knew exactly what they were having.

 

He'd also make sure his father would pack some cheese and tuna fish, so that he had something if what his patrol was having wasn't something he could have. Notice it wasn't junk food, it was real food, and often the cheese would be put out to share as a health snack for anyone around.

 

Sometimes when the adults were having something his father didn't eat, like pork or shellfish, he'd eat with one of the patrols, and one of the them would get what he couldn't eat.

 

[Vicki]

Thanks for the reminder, yelruh. But I think the real issue we're dealing with here is how you deal with scouts whose dietary issues are more "choice-based" (not to mention non-disciplinary parenting) than the ones you're talking about.

 

To be really specific in relating it to Chippewa's situation, in the two troops I've served (and NYLT), the scout in question would not have had access to the doughnut and hot chocolate for breakfast or the bagel and cream cheese for dinner. He would have been able to eat the smores. Kool-aid/bug juice likewise. The adult campmaster (as opposed to the scout campmaster) would probably have mentioned what the scout ate to the parent the first couple of times it happened. After that, we would feel our responsibility was fulfilled unless the parent had a request and we felt it was within our ability to fulfill it.

 

Vicki

[Hunt]

I think it's important to talk to the parents. It's not so easy to determine if pickiness is "choice-based" or not. There is a boy in my son's troop who will eat only a few foods. He is perfectly willing to cook and clean for the other boys, but he simply won't eat many normal foods. Often he simply won't eat much at all. When he does eat, it's something very bland, like a cheese sandwich or a plain pancake. Based on his general behavior, I don't think he's deliberately trying to be difficult.

 

Personally, I despise the taste of liver. If I got hungry enough, of course I would eat it. Imagine that many, many foods tasted that bad to you--it would be tough, and it might not be possible to "just get over it." So I'm with those who think that if the boy is doing his share of the work, paying his share of the food costs, and not overtly endangering his health in the short term, we should let him eat what he wants (after conferring with his parents, of course).