Thanks to more traditional camps offering culinary tracks, more and more campers are learning about healthy living and gaining practical life skills that they can bring home to the family table.
“Culinary is the hottest and newest in terms of camps investing in building kitchens and bringing in specialists to teach the kids. The other part that goes along with culinary is the whole, farmed table – taking things from the gardens and cooking them,” says Jill Tipograph, a camp consultant and author of Your Everything Summer Guide & Planner.
Simmering foodies.
Hidden Valley Camp, a traditional sleepaway camp located in mid-coastal Maine and a member of the Maine Camp Experience, attracts campers between the ages of 8 and 14 from all over the world.
Camp director Peter Kassen, who has spent 30 summers running camps, finds that culinary classes are especially attractive to today’s campers, thanks in large part to pop culture and a greater interest in eating well.
“This idea of being a foodie has really permeated the culture. Being involved in producing your own food and eating good food has become more central, not just with adults but with children as well,” Kassen says.
Through the culinary classes, campers acquire a valuable life skill, learning to prepare quality, healthy meals from specialists in the food industry, and tasting foods from all over the globe.
“Last year, we had a group of 10 Korean campers accompanied by a woman who brought them over. She cooked a Korean meal for the entire camp. It was spectacular,” Kassen says.
He says campers are especially enthusiastic about Hidden Valley’s Iron Chef-inspired class. The last cooking class of each day is divided into two groups and each is given a secret ingredient (like leftover avocado, onions, corn, chocolate, etc.) Each team is charged with making something from the leftovers.
The teams present their preparations before dinner to Kassen in front of the entire camp. He bravely tastes the items and decides the winner. “I have a couple of rules of certain things they can’t put in,” he laughs. “(Otherwise) I’ll eat anything. It’s a fun thing!”
When possible, the camp serves local produce and foods, including Maine blueberries, and on the last night, the lucky campers dine on Maine lobsters and clams.
Appetizing adventures.
Tipograph says that boys seem especially attracted to the culinary tracks. Camp directors tell her that “the girls like it, but the boys crave it. They have never seen a specialty activity such as culinary attract as many boys.”
Henry, 9, attended Camp Androscoggin, an all-boys camp in Maine. He says that he loves to cook and was excited when the senior campers asked him if he wanted to join in the evening cooking activity.
“We made arroz con pollo, which I have never had. I helped sauté the chicken. It was the first time I had ever had a Spanish meal, and it was delicious,” he says.
Dishing up life skills.
Outdoor cooking has been part of the Girl Scouts camp experience for the past century and girls today still enjoy it. Lauren Shapiro, camp pathway manager for Girl Scout camps in Oregon and southwest Washington, says many of her campers especially like the outdoor cooking programs like Cast Iron Chef, in which the girls learn to cook meals over a campfire or camp stove.
In her camps’ Top Chef programs, the girls are challenged to prepare a meal in the lodge for the entire camp. Not only do they learn to cook for a crowd by accommodating different tastes and dietary requirements, they also learn how to set a table and read and double a recipe. In addition, they nurture softer skills like stress management and patience during meal preparation.
“The practical hard skills they learn are valuable, but leadership skills and that ability to work with others is something we really hope they take home with them, whether they use them again for cooking or in a group project at school,” Shapiro says.
To find a camp in your area, check out Washington Parent’s Camps and Summer Programs Guide!
Freelance journalist Christa M. Hines is the mom of two former summer campers, now young adults, who still love spending time outdoors.
