The Role Of The Camp Kitchen

Making special-diet campers feel “normal”

By Gillian Goldman

It is the last day of camp, and the dining porch is in its usual state of controlled chaos. The delivery truck has just left, the porch sound system is jamming, and 500 people are busy enjoying lunch. Cheese quesadillas, pinto beans, corn chips, guacamole, and salsa are on the menu. A team member finds me and shares that Jay (a celiac camper) has an unusual request. Jay has been coming to camp for years. He knows the drill: there are corn tortilla quesadillas for our gluten-free army available; of course, he knows the guacamole is gluten-free, so what could Jay want? I delegate my current task to a team member, take off my gloves, and head out to the dining porch with a smile.

Photo: © Can Stock Photo / monkeybusiness

I find Jay standing outside the kitchen holding a wooden paddle. At our camp, when campers “graduate,” they are presented a paddle with their name on it. These serve as de facto yearbooks, covered in well wishes and signatures from fellow campers and staff members. It isn’t clear why he’s holding the paddle until I greet him and he asks me, the COOK, to sign his treasured keepsake. Why would Jay want my signature? His answer is one of the most meaningful things a camper with special-dietary needs can say: “Thanks for making me feel normal over all the years I have been here.”

So, what do we do that makes campers with special-dietary needs feel “normal” in a setting surrounded by kids who don’t have those needs? How can we structure menus so campers with forbidden foods still have great options? I don’t have all the answers, but I can share what the camp has done to create an environment where campers like Jay seek me out for a signature.

Have A Plan

Before the campers with food allergies arrive, the office often schedules a phone interview with parents to gain information about the severity of the allergy, to relieve their fears, and to make plans for the success and inclusion of the campers upon arrival. Backpacking trips, bus trips, food the family will provide, and food the camp will provide are discussed. All of this is written down so a plan is in order. My favorite question to ask is “What does the camper like to eat at home?” I like to focus on what campers DO like, rather than dwell on the limitations. This simple question lets both parents and campers know the allergy isn’t a nuisance, but an opportunity for us to give them food they already know they like. Our camp has many self-service bars in addition to the main menu. Often these locations have the campers’ “go-to” favorites. Letting parents and campers know about those items helps alleviate the anxiety that children with allergies often face when eating away from home.

Be Consistent

Celiacs and vegans are the two groups we encounter with more frequency these days. The menu replacement for these groups should be as close as possible to the item being offered on the menu. Favoritism and special treatment is a delicate balance with nourishment and inclusion. For example, years ago we had a counselor with a chicken allergy. One of the cooks would make him a bacon cheeseburger when the rest of camp was eating chicken Caesar wraps. Many campers decided they would (for one lunch anyway) like to have a chicken allergy! Now, we work as hard as possible to find a one-for-one substitute. The gluten-free pizza has the exact same toppings as the regular pizza, but on a gluten-free crust. When we have hamburgers, there are gluten-free buns and veggie patties—all on the same service line and with the same toppings available.

At our camp, we do not serve any item made with “hidden” nuts: almond meal, cashew butter, or coconut cream. The celiac and vegan versions have to be 100-percent nut-free, too. Reading labels and doing research ahead of time is invaluable, as many vegan substitutions rely on nuts.

Establish Trust

All parents feel somewhat nervous about sending their child to camp. When a child has a life-threatening food allergy, that nervousness is obviously amplified. We work hard to create trust and alleviate those concerns. Our initial allergy call serves as the key part in establishing this trust. It also helps me as a food-service manager. Since this is accomplished before camp, I can actually take the time to process and plan for each child’s allergy as opposed to dealing with it in the packed schedule during camp.

But that trust would be shattered if the camper arrived at camp and I didn’t follow through. In some cases, buying from the food provider simply won’t do, for example, a nut-free, gluten-free, vegan granola bar. The backpacking overnight trip had a need for such an item. In a quiet kitchen at the end of the meal service, I grabbed my recipe book and doled out fresh, sealed cases of all the ingredients needed. This meant there was no chance of any cross contamination. And we didn’t make the bar for just the allergic camper. Instead, we baked enough for the whole cabin. The child on the field trip was too nervous to consume the bar (and I can’t blame her, when an allergy is life-threatening), but the other campers without nut allergies totally enjoyed this camp-baked treat. For many of our guests, the risk is very real, and being on a field trip away from any medical assistance increases that fear.

I have found that, on such trips the small investment in individually wrapped, labeled bars, cookies, and treats goes a long way in enhancing everyone’s experience. For those with a life-threatening allergy, eating something they didn’t see made is scarier than climbing a rock wall. It takes time to build trust.

The Label Book

A few years ago, a new team member suggested we keep all our product labels in a binder. This has been an awesome resource. For every product we serve, the label from the can, box, or bag is noted in the Label Book.

Now, whenever there is any question about ingredients, they are easy to find. Any kitchen team member (and we are a team when it comes to allergies) can look in the binder and tell a camper with absolute certainty what a product contains. Every time we answer honestly and with authority that something is safe, or that it is NOT, we build trust.

The Public Face

Campers and staff with allergies or dietary choices do not want to be a burden. Their experience in the dining hall should appear as effortless as everyone else’s. This is the theory, but in reality, behind the scenes, this is far from the truth. During any busy food service, creating a gluten-free macaroni and cheese for the three celiacs and two paleos, and simultaneously making the regular version for 400, can be a challenge! Whatever private “scramble” the kitchen endures to make these meal adaptations happen, the folks on the public dining porch do not need to know.

If campers think they are being a pain, they will stop asking questions and might go hungry or worse—eat something with an allergen. That’s why we always treat our campers as guests, and assure them the menu is not a problem.

How can we do that in the heat of lunch service? One of our techniques is to have a designated allergy person. So, when a camper tugs on the sleeve of a kitchen team member to ask if the cookies are vegan, that member can contact the allergy person, who can step away from the assigned job to answer an allergy question, which makes it easier to manage. Plus, with the Label Book, many people can be designated as the allergy person!

Choositarians

For years, we have jokingly talked in our camp-management team about choositarians. These are the people—an increasing portion of the camp community—who follow food trends, for a variety of reasons. We respect them as if they had allergies, and respect them when they choose to eat outside their diets. If the paleo camper chooses to eat a blueberry muffin, it is a choice. Everyone in the “dietary choice” category is on their own unique culinary journey. Food shaming is as hurtful as body shaming. It is our job to provide options, not to force people into choice diets.

Deconstruction

Over the years at camp, we have found that deconstructing some menu items makes them easier to offer as a variety of dietary choices. Teriyaki chicken with sauce on the side keeps the celiacs as happy as those campers on low-sugar or low-salt diets. Plus, we can offer tofu on the bar beside the chicken, making the vegan population happy, and serving them seamlessly alongside everyone else. The cost of these pre-made sauces is high, so by serving them as options, we reduce their use and save money. This is the best possible outcome—we’ve cut costs and simultaneously made our small populations of both allergies (chicken, wheat, soy) and dietary-choice guests feel important.

Pre-packaged rice pilaf was another item that was changed. We now offer steamed plain rice with our own seasonings, or add wild rice or red quinoa for color. Pilaf contains wheat and often uses butter during the cooking process. Reducing menu sides to gluten-free and vegan where possible saves us time, and sometimes costs. It is slightly more work, but to save money and make guests feel included is worth it for us.

Small Investments Reap Rewards

It’s the little things that are a big deal at camp. Take s’mores, for example. We invest in vegan marshmallows and gluten-free graham crackers. These are expensive, but these treats are such a big part of our campers’ happiness level. Some years ago parents provided these for individual campers (see “make a plan”), but then we were faced with the haves and have-nots. So now we have a small stash of these foods available for campers, so all the celiacs and vegans can share a campfire treat.

Siblings And Friends Of Allergy Campers

A few years ago, a cabin of eight girls and three staff members probably had a combination of every allergy and dietary choice possible. There were severe contact peanut and tree nut-allergy campers, combined with vegans, one celiac, one grain-free camper, two vegetarians, one pork-free camper, one severe egg-allergy camper, and a staff member who was vegan and celiac. To say the least, it was a challenge to keep them all fed and feeling like it wasn’t a challenge. The cabin girls wrote a note of thanks at the end of their session for appreciating their dietary needs, and how everyone had a safe and happy food experience. One camper wrote a note that still hangs on the bulletin board in our kitchen today: ”Even though I had no dietary restrictions, I learned a lot about the struggles of those who do. And when we went backpacking, we all ate the same thing, and it rocked. Thanks for the trouble you took to make all of the trail mixes look the same, but were different.”

So often in camping we talk about the changes we make in campers’ lives. Generally, we frame that around discussions of friendship and challenges at activities. But by paying attention to allergy (and dietary choice) campers and treating them in a way that makes it easy for them to eat, we can make a difference in their lives at the dining hall.

By building trust with the parents of children who struggle with food allergies, you are building for the future. Those parents, because of their needs, are often very active in parent groups and schools. They will sing your praises if their child sings your praises and those will increase business for the camp. After all, if you can take care of their child, surely your camp will do a great job with “normal” kids!

Remember Jay, the camper with the wooden paddle? In part, because of the experiences he had around food at camp, he attended for over five years, and his two younger siblings are still at camp. “Thanks for making me feel normal.” This was quite a statement; we strove to nourish this young man and give him the fuel he needed to enjoy camp life. Normal? I never thought he was abnormal; he is a human with special needs. How much energy should a camp spend on helping a child with emotional needs? Why shouldn’t we do the same in the kitchen?

I wrote something on the side of his paddle, thanking him for our celiac adventure together over the years. I said I hope he returns as a counselor in the future. Then, back in the kitchen, I went to the privacy of the bathroom, shed a few tears, dusted myself off, and continued the tasks at hand. After all, there was another group of campers coming tomorrow, and there would be many of them with allergies to make “feel normal.”

Gillian “Goldie” Goldman is the Food Service Manager at Gold Arrow Camp. She has worked in the camp kitchen since 1999 and is passionate about bringing healthy, delicious food options to all campers and staff. Gillian and her team work diligently, through record keeping and safe food preparation practices, to meet the dietary needs of the entire camp community. Gillian spends her off-season researching healthy and delicious recipes and menu options while also working part time as a ski instructor at China Peak Resort..