The Boy Scouts plan their own meals for camping trips. They also take turns buying the food. Well, technically the boys make the list and fill the shopping cart. The adults only job is to pay for the food. Guess whose turn it is to buy the food? In theory, this teaches the boys important skills. In reality, it makes me incredibly nervous. I have come to accept that I will pack Noah and Doug (and whoever else is going) a dozen outfits for a weekend trip. “This one in case it’s cold and this one if it gets hot and this one for rain and…” The boys will still return home in the same outfit they were wearing when they left and every unworn outfit will be inexplicably filthy. Wasted laundry, but that doesn’t bother me. The idea of wasted food makes my left eye twitch. I know I’m not supposed to question the boys’ meal planning, but when it looks like they are planning a leisurely brunch of pancakes with fresh fruit and whipped cream for a NOVEMBER camping trip, I imagine tons of ruined, uneaten food. Sure, I would like to know which middle school child spells “oarnges” or “katsup” but, I would prefer that one of the leaders intervene before food is used to teach a lesson. If the uneaten food was good for the animals, I guess it wouldn’t bother me so much. I just don’t think that wild animals need to be eating unused batter or burnt pancakes. Why can’t the boys just eat eggs in orange halves like other scouts?
sounds like they are planning a bridal brunch! I think you are correct and should put your foot down about this…
cleary they are out of their minds to begin with why would you camp in November?
I agree. Though food is expensive, it is not (entirely) the point. Camping is supposed to be about “rouging it” and conserving resources. (Though I rarely think fresh fruit is a bad idea)
Breakfast in our troop was almost always the same, an orange, and a “poached egg” which consisted of cutting the top of the orange off, eating the insides, and preserving the skin intact so that we could crack an egg into the emptied out skin, and poach it by the side of the fire. No dishes to wash (only cutlery), and far less that needs to be brought back (or cleaned up) later. Lunch was (almost) always a canned soup or food that you could “cook in the can” so again the only cleanup was a fork or spoon.
I think like many other areas camping has gotten a bit too soft, and the skills that are supposed to be learned are now lost.