Our camp food supplier told me something recently that changed how I think about camp kitchens. And made me feel great about ours.
“You all have the same food. It’s how you present it. It’s how you market it. It’s how you theme it. You got the same burgers as them. You just do this with the burgers. They don’t do that with the burgers.”
He’s right. There are basically two major suppliers that feed the entire camping industry. US Foods and Sysco. No camp has a secret food supplier with magical ingredients.
The difference is entirely in what you do with it.
How We Think About Food
Camp food at Twin Creeks comes down to intentionality.
Themed meals. Taco Tuesday. Italian night. These are camp nights of the week that kids recognize and look forward to.
The Chiquita Banana Unite song plays whenever we serve bananas. Kids belt it out every time.
If the temperature drops below 60 degrees on any morning? Well, that’s great news, because it means hot chocolate at breakfast. There’s a sign posted. Kids check the thermometer.
Every breakfast has the same staples. There’s a hot dish, cold cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit salad, and bagels. Don’t like waffles? No problem. Have yogurt or bananas. There are choices and choices.
Lunch and dinner work the same way. Salad bar at every meal. PB&J is always available. Everyone will find something they want to eat.
Kids walk out of dinner with a warm cookie. It started because we skipped it as a snack one day, kids loved the change, and it’s been that way ever since. Oh, and shocker, kids love cookies.
Some meals are no-brainers. Put the meatballs in the sauce, cook everything for an hour or so, and serve it hot. You need those when running a big camp.
But you also need meals where kids and staff are like, oh, this is really good. That balance matters. Easy enough to execute consistently, impressive enough that people notice.
And in the end, kids leave the dining hall happy and full.
Different Diets? No problema
Every summer, we have vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free campers and staff.
The meal themes always stay the same, only with some ingredient changes.
Italian night with chicken parm? There will be eggplant parmesan or cauliflower steaks to accommodate everyone’s diets.
What about Taco Tuesday? Options are there that fit everyone and still feel like Tuesdays are for Tacos.
When this works the way it should, kids with dietary restrictions are excited about their meal. They’re just eating, not making awkward eye contact with kitchen staff or wondering what they can actually have.
Similar Burgers, Different Experience
My food supplier was right.
We all have the same burgers. Same chicken. Same vegetables and pasta and ingredients.
The difference is what you do with them. How you present them. How you theme them. What traditions you build around them.
Hot cookies after dinner. Hot chocolate at 60 degrees. The Chiquita Banana song. Taco Tuesday.
Camp food is what you build around it.
