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Hi folks. We are fortunate to have really great tasting food at camp. However, as I look at camp ingredients and consider the many problems children are having with their health these days I can't help but want to change some things around. My personal choice to eat more organic and natural products and avoid high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils has made me feel much better in many ways. As a person who also eats all of my meals at camp during the summer I don't like how it can affect my overall health.

I would like to slowly transition our food program to use as many healthier ingredients as I can. We have a lovely woman who runs our kitchen, but we have lots of fried foods and sometimes unbalanced meals.

Any words of advice from other camps out there that have not only good tasting food, but healthy ingredients? Where is a good place to start? Who are your food providers? Good recipe books? Please also give canteen or snack ideas. We cook for about 200 at each meal.

Hi,

I am a food service manager at a camp. In our canteen store we only allow ice cream treats and each camper is only allowed one each day.

We have a morning snack that is always fruit, vegetables, crackers, cheese~something healthy. In the afternoon, we offer other snacks like rice crispy treats, or granola bars.

As for your meals, you could use the DPI guidelines. I follow their food meal patterns and always get really good replies about how nutritious and balanced our meals are. I hope this helps. If you have, any more questions feel free to contact me at amber@campgray.com or 608-356-8200.

Amber-I wanted to thank you for the great ideas that you sent me on Menues. If there is anyone who has good ideas for healthy camp eating I would love to see them. I am trying to make our food better for our campers..

We use United Natural Foods. Their phone number is (800)-282-1718.

I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. My kids loved the menu that I had last year but the camp wants to make it a little better in the health department.

Good luck!

I am starting a new Camp in Avila, Spain and since my husband is a chef we work together on designing a menu both fun and healthy. For breakfast we will offer cereals, toasts, muffins, natural juices, milk (chocolat or plain)and fresh fruits. For lunch: Baked chicken & fish nuggets, pasta, home made grilled burguers, home made pizza, paella, grilled vegetables, fresh salads (including pasta salad)grilled chicken, grilled sardines and for dessert: always fresh fruit and on weekends ice creams. On weekends we will cook out on the grill(lunch and dinner).For snack we will offer peanut butter and jelly, Nutella and ham & cheese sandwiches with a piece of fruit. Always use olive oil, it is healthier. Make the kids aware of healthy food and how important is to eat 5 pieces of fruit a day. Have them participate when you are cooking out....

Great ideas, thank-you for sharing!

One quick note in regards to the type of oil, canola oil actually has the healthiest blend of fats - however, extra-virgin olive oil is preferred due to the flavor and extra virgin provides a larger amount of antioxidants

What about lactose intolerant children? What snacks do you have for them?

Has anyone considered using Stevia as a sweetener in camp foods? It's MUCH healthier than sugar because it's all natural and has no calories, no carbs and no glycemic index - ideal for all kids. The Stevia plant is a naturally sweet herb that is native to Paraguay and has been used for centuries as a sweetener. I like to use the SweetLeaf brand of sweetener because I think it tastes the best compared to other Stevia sweeteners. The best part about SweetLeaf is that it can be used in hot drinks, cold drinks, is great on cereal, brings out the delicious flavors in fruits, can be used in cooking and baking, makes great-tasting desserts and is incredible in smoothies and blended drinks. I recommend that anyone who is wokring to make camp food healthier try SweetLeaf!

Also, if anyone is interested in getting more info, I stumbled on these videos while surfing YouTube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6wwMAe_Hi0k

http://youtube.com/watch?v=s5ILDC5Cx_o