Think you know what camp food is like these days? Think again. The fare has changed since your summers away. Now, camp directors consult with nutritionists, chefs and dieticians to plan out healthy and kid-friendly camp menus. Many day and resident camps also cater to special dietary requirements such as being Kosher, lactose intolerant or vegetarian, as well as food allergies and celiac disease. Over the years, camp owners and directors have been educating themselves about children’s special dietary needs, allergies and food sensitivities and are happy to accommodate such requirements. Families shouldn’t assume that just because their child has food sensitivities or restrictions that they can’t go to day or sleepaway camp—yummy options abound.
But it’s a two-way street when it comes to matters of the stomach and plate. “Whatever your child’s dietary needs may be, it is important for parents to be honest with the camp director at the camp they are interested in sending their child to,” says Adam Weinstein, Executive Director of the American Camp Association, New York and New Jersey. “Even if a camp doesn’t state their food policy on their website or in their brochure, parents should talk to the camp director and make sure they understand your child’s needs and that you also understand what the camp can handle and accommodate.”
Camp owners understand that many kids are not only growing up in health-minded homes but also in foodie families. The result has been threefold: improved nutrition, a legion of choices and family-style eating. Family- or buffet-style serving has replaced the cafeteria trays of years past, though line serving still takes place in some cases. Generally, food is served on large trays passed around the table, allowing children a chance to enjoy each other’s company, and hopefully learn some table manners, too. In an era when families don’t always have the time to dine together, the family-style camp meal reinforces the value of spending quality time with those you care about.
THE MENU
For breakfast, many camps offer options like cereals, yogurt and fruit. During lunch and dinner, camps offer sandwich bars, pasta bars and salad bars with fresh vegetables, cottage cheese, grilled chicken, tuna and eggs. A lot of camps also have fresh fruit available for snacks throughout the day.
“We have a registered dietician on staff who we work closely with to plan healthy meals made with natural foods that kids enjoy eating. Children like options, so we make sure that there are a number of different choices at each meal,” says Jeff Grabow, Director of Camp Echo, a coed resident camp in the Catskills. “Throughout the summer, we also have specialty and themed meals that give campers a variety of different foods including Italian Night, Chinese Food Night, Greek Night, Tex Mex Night and Jewish Appreciation Night. We make sure that campers are eating the foods that they want.”
FOOD ALLERGIES
And then there’s the rising concern of food allergies. With an increase in the prevalence of allergies among children, many traditional day and sleepaway camps are accommodating campers with a variety of food-related restrictions, including peanut and tree nut allergies. Additionally, staff members are trained in how to handle children with allergies, how to read food labels and packages and how to administer EpiPens, while food service directors make sure that ordered food items do not contain peanut or tree nut ingredients.
” Several years ago, Brant Lake Camp found that the well-documented increase in the incidence of peanut and other food allergies was clearly reflected in our camper population,” said Dave Cramoy, a director at Brant Lake Camp. “Taking a proactive approach, we moved to make camp a safer environment for affected children. We eliminated all nuts and nut-containing products camp-wide, encompassing dining room meals, candy/canteen offerings, cookies and items sent to campers or brought into camp by staff, visitors and campers. No staff member or camper is allowed to bring nuts or nut ingredient products back into camp from trips or time off. The importance of hand washing before returning to camp is also underscored as an additional precaution.”
To prepare families, letters and emails are sent before camp and prior to visiting day reminding parents that no nut products are allowed onto camp grounds and that any packages sent cannot contain nut products. Many resident camps will allow families to send pre-packaged food for their child to make sure there is no unintentional cross contamination with other food products. Parents of day campers can pack nut-free lunches if the camp isn’t peanut- and tree nut-free and camps will make sure there is no cross contamination with the other campers’ food. Other food allergies are often dealt with on an individual case basis so parents should talk to the camp director about their child’s specific needs.
CELIAC DISEASE
Increasingly, there are both day and sleepaway camps that accommodate children with celiac disease, an intolerance to foods with gluten, the protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. To comply, camp kitchens and staff will make changes to the types of food they order and serve in an effort to make the menu gluten-free.
Camps are also diligent about ensuring that there is no unintentional cross-contamination with foods that contain gluten. Many camps, besides serving gluten-free meals for these campers, will allow parents to send their own gluten-free meals to camp for their children. Last summer, the New Jersey Y camps partnered with the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center to create a Gluten-Free Kitchen and gluten-free program. Len Robinson, Director of the New Jersey Y resident camps in Milford, PA said, “We’ve had children with celiac disease, where parents would send gluten-free food to camp each summer and we would supplement it. But last summer was the first [time] we had this level of programming. A child with celiac disease can’t have one crumb of gluten without getting sick. We made a decision [that] we were going to do it the right way.”
Along with the Gluten-Free Kitchen and program, NJY camps also wanted to change the camp culture. “Whenever we do inter-camp trips for sports, we make sure there is gluten-free ice cream. And all meals served at camp are matched up so children who eat gluten-free foods are eating exactly the same food as [the rest of the] children,” says Len Robinson.
Debra Etelson Mayblum is a parent of three children with celiac disease and she sent her oldest child to NJY camp last summer for the first time. “I always wanted my children to go to sleepaway camp but as soon they leave the house, there are unanticipated snacks and field trips. It is very tricky. I had always heard good things about the NJY camps but when I found out they were committed to making a gluten-free kitchen, it was a no brainer for me to send my children there,” she says.
VEGETARIAN/VEGAN
Summer camps will also happily accommodate campers’ special dietary needs including vegetarian and/or vegan. The majority of summer camps offer a vegetarian option for each meal, as well as an elaborate salad bar at lunch and dinner which includes a variety of vegetables in addition to tofu, hummus, beans and pasta. There are also camps that are Kosher, Kosher-style or will serve food for children that keep Kosher.
To help find the right summer camp experience for your child, visit therightcamp.com.
