wasted food

[Lisabob]

My son came home from a camp out today with the "left overs" from his patrol. Here's what they planned for a menu: Saturday breakfast = pancakes and bacon (they didn't cook the bacon); Saturday lunch = cheese burgers and apples (they didn't eat the apples, which subsequently froze and are now in bad shape); Saturday dinner = lasagna, garlic bread, and carrots (they used the meat for the lasagna to make more hamburgers instead, didn't eat the bread or the carrots); Saturday cracker barrel= crackers (they didn't eat them). Sunday breakfast = french toast and sausage (they didn't make french toast because the eggs were frozen).

 

He came home with huge quantities of unused food, some of which will keep for a future camp out but most of which will not. More over, a good bit of the food is soaking wet and/or spoiled due to improper storage.

 

I'm really irritated by this waste. My son seems to understand that irritation, but said he could not convince his patrol mates to eat the stuff they'd planned for and that besides, all the patrols end up with wasted food like this. He further states that most of the boys don't care if they waste food because their parents, not them, are paying for the cost of the camp outs (which includes an allotted food budget per person in the patrol).

 

Do you see this as a common occurrence? Any thoughts on how to help reduce the waste in the future? I'm disgusted by this.

[Gunny2862]

I keep a cooler for condiments, we have a storage box that always has a stock of oatmeal and peanut butter. But other than that we rarely have more than a banana or an orange, maybe some leftover sandwhich bread - which goes home with our scholarshipped boys. We don't often see food waste, but we also work off a budget of $10 per person for Fri. night, Sat -All day, and Sun morning.

[scottteng]

Yes it is terrible the way the scouts waste food but there is always the inclination for all the grubmasters to get just a little extra too. This weekend we were doing individual cooking over the fire it is our "survival" weekend. For lunch they had MRE's left over from last month when they got evacuated due to tornado warnings. A lot of those went in the trash and not just the kids. Dinner was foil dinners we had a couple of extra burgers but lots of extra onions and peppers about the 11&12 year olds share some of them just had a burger in their foil dinner. Breakfast was one of those found in book things which sounds super lunch bag two strips of bacon on bottom, handful of tater tots, little cheese crack two eggs over and fold bag hang over fire on stick for ten minutes close enough for heat but not to catch. In real life its a little more difficult and takes a while longer, most of the troop raided the trailers oatmeal supply or grabbed mess kit frying pans instead. We had a WEBELOS with us for his camp with troop outing to the amazement of everyone his dad included this kid cooked and ate an even dozen eggs. Thank God we had the eggs available.

[Lisabob]

That's what our guys have too, a budget of $10 per boy who is attending. This time around my son's patrol had 5 boys = $50 but they wasted/spoiled probably $15 worth of food and some of it isn't even in good enough shape to use at home right away. If this were a rare occurrence I'd be willing to chalk it up to an "oops" moment but it isn't - practically every time my son is in charge of sorting out the left overs he comes home with a cooler and box half-full of yucked-up food no longer fit for consumption so this is an on-going patrol (really, troop) issue and I'm quite sure it is no different when other boys in the patrol are the ones to take home and clean out the box & cooler. It has just been some time since my son was last in charge of the food and so I'd forgotten how much this irritates me each time it happens. Grr...

[scoutmomma]

He further states that most of the boys don't care if they waste food because their parents, not them, are paying for the cost of the camp outs (which includes an allotted food budget per person in the patrol).

 

If this were happening in our troop, this is something that we would bring to the attention of the PLC to ask them to brainstorm solutions to this kind of waste, along with a reminder that a Scout is thrifty. Once they figure out how to deal with the situation, it would be communicated to the entire troop, parents and scouts alike, through our troop mailing list. Good luck -- that would drive me batty, too. My son just came back from a destination campout with a box full of dirty pots and pans (his assigned duty since he didn't cook this trip), and his own bowl half-full of pudding from last night that he decided he didn't like...not as wasteful as what you're describing, but definitely yucky.

[Oak Tree]

My son was once the patrol cook and planned a campout with no fruit whatsoever. An ASM told him he had to add fruit to every meal. He added an apple per boy per meal. With six boys and five meals, that meant he purchased thirty apples. They ate exactly zero over the duration of the campout. Now, all the apples came back and eventually got eaten, so they didn't go to waste, but it was an interesting exercise in meal planning.

 

What you describe is partially common in our troop. Some patrols always buy too much, while others come out just about right. There is usually a little bit of "yukked up" food, but most of it is still usable and goes home with someone. We dole out all the extra food while we're unpacking, so all the parents and Scouts get to see the leftover food. I don't know if this helps reduce waste or not, but it doesn't sound like as big a problem in our troop as it is in yours.

 

One other difference is that we don't give the boys a budget. I would have initially thought that this would make our guys more likely to buy extra food, but I guess it could also be that your boys feel like they should spend all the money that they've been allotted.

[Beavah]

Yah, this is Michigan, right? A winter outdoor campout I assume?

 

Can't say I blame the lads for realizin' in the field that quick and one-pot style meals were going to be better than somethin' complimicated like lasagna. And as yeh mention, apples and eggs aren't a great choice for da frozen north.

 

I think we adults sometimes assume the kids know more than they do about menu planning, just because most of us have been doin' it for so long that it's automatic and we don't have to think about it. But packaging and quantities in grocery stores is just plain confusin', eh? And anticipating what's goin' to be right for the conditions also takes experience.

 

That's why I think it's important for kids doin' T-2-1 to have a number of experiences practicing and learning about menu planning and cooking and food purchasing before they get "signed off" and are expected to be capable of doin' it on their own. There's a lot to learn, and it takes some practice. And as Oak suggests, practice without adults who insist on fruit or fresh eggs .

 

Beavah

 

[SSScout]

Frozen eggs... Can't fry'em. Can you boil them after they are frozen? I think I might experiment with that...

 

I know frozen apples can be boiled into apple sauce, but that is an affectation, I guess.

 

Sounds like some real life experience learning. Plan ahead? What if? And how hungry must one be to ignore/work around the pickyness factor?

[Gunny2862]

Anyone but especially scotteng, have you ever gotten that egg in the paper bag thing to work?

I was glad I tried it with one portion first instead of committing everyones meal to it. I couldn't get it to work at all. Wound up scramble/frying it to avoid throwing it away.

 

It is a constant thing for us to encourage the salad/vegetable/fresh fruit serving, not so much a struggle but if it doesn't get pushed it gets left off the menu. However once bought they do get eaten.

 

Lisabob, is it possible that you are seeing the reverse side of this they buy the required items but don't eat them because they aren't "encouraged" to do so?

[evmori]

Sounds like it's time for a little menu planning class. And after that, a shopping class.

[Venividi]

When food started accumulating in our troop's leftover bins, I asked the PLC to consider having the patrols take left over food home. They decided that the patrols grubmaster should be the one to take it home. After a while, we saw that the scouts shopping habits changed. Where once, every campout many patrols brought an orange drink mix that no one ever drank, that stopped when the parents got it back home. I suspect they tried it and found how awful it was. I also suspected that the parents were the ones that had decided to purchase it in the first place, as it never was on the scouts shopping list that they created at their patrol meetings.

 

Wasted food wont change immediately, but over time they learn. Until that new batch of Webelos crosses over and you get to watch them learn the same lessons.(This message has been edited by venividi)

[Gunny2862]

Gee Ed, it's not necessarily the menu.

It's not the shopping for us.

 

I believe the issue, centers on boys actually eating what is brought.

 

Which for us isn't an issue because we ensure they are hungry by meal time by keeping them busy and because, we - so far - have a tradition of very good meals.

[John-in-KC]

Lisa,

 

One trick I've seen over the years is to have the T-2-1 Scouts learning to cook do so at Troop meetings... OUTSIDE, under supervision of Guides/Instructors who have some cooking skills, or (if they all burn the food) perhaps under an ASM keeping an eye on the food.

 

They seem to learn that simple, fast, and filling trumps elaborate and long.

[Lisabob]

THanks for the feedback so far. Yes I agree some of this is "live and learn" like the frozen eggs. But for goodness sake, the boys in this patrol are mostly 3rd, 4th, and 5th year scouts and should have a better grip on some of this stuff by now! My own son included! I get the feeling sometimes that they don't really have to learn because nobody notices or cares if they waste half the food they brought with them.

 

Some of it is menu planning issues, like the apples - I know for a fact they got put on the menu to appease any adults who required a fruit or veggie. My son did try to claim garlic (for garlic bread) as a veggie, along with the bread (hey, it is made from grain and that grows in the ground so it could be a veggie, right?). So one approach might be not to require the kids to include fruits or veggies if they don't want them. And certainly one weekend a month without those items won't kill them. But then again, if we go that route then maybe they should be allowed to have pop tarts, ramen noodles, and hot dogs every time too.

 

Some of it I see as the boys being a little lazy. Lasagna is NOT a tough thing to make in a dutch oven and if you line it with foil it isn't hard to clean up either. Heck, you don't even have to cook the noodles! But, it does take a few minutes to spoon the sauce and cheese over the noodles and it requires you to start dinner a little earlier than if you have hamburgers. And making one pot meals isn't hard but it might require a little effort to find a new recipe and learn to make them - which I don't see much initiative for in this group.

 

But I see a lot of it as being a lack of team work and understanding or willingness to stick with the established process. If one boy is in charge of menu planning and solicits input, gets none, tries to plan the menu based on things he figures most kids eat, shops based on a reasonable menu, and then when he gets there his patrol mates won't stick to the plan because they "don't feel like it" then that's just too bad in my book. They eat what was planned and bought or they don't eat, dietary allergies aside. And maybe next time they'll be more proactive in providing input to their grubmaster. But nobody took this line so instead they spoiled and wasted the food that was bought so they could eat what they pleased. I noticed the ice cream, chocolate milk, and cookies all got used.

 

Then again, maybe my expectations are too high.

[John-in-KC]

I'd start by taking out the ice cream. Want a dessert? MAKE IT.

 

I'd also take out the chocolate milk. Want cocoa? MAKE IT.

 

The veggie issue: OK, move the apples to applesauce. That gets eaten. (then, have the kids learn to make applesauce at a Troop meeting).

 

How often do adults eat with the Patrols, Lisa?