Scouting families - help me figure this one out

[MerryPoppins]

Our family is heavily involved with Scouting. In fact, DH and I are patrol parents for DS's Boy Scout patrol. We have recently run into a problem and I wondered if any of you had a brilliant idea.

First a little background information. We collect patrol dues whenever our funds are getting low. These funds are used to help pay for fun activities and food supplies for campouts. Parents are pretty good about turning in money whenever needed, so this method has worked for us. It cuts down on the need to count heads, divide the cost and collect from each family at each campout.

No problem with this has ever surfaced that we couldn't figure out. Last year one of our new Scouts informed us he didn't eat meat. But his parents said not to worry about it because they would bring some extra food like peanut butter to fill in the menu when he wouldn't eat. Dad eats meat, and said it wouldn't be a problem and not to plan around the son's diet.

This year, we have several new Scouts that have whole families that are vegetarian. We just found this out this week. We have no idea how strict their diet is - I know that finding that out is the first step is working this out. Each campout, a boy serves as grubmaster and plans the menus, asigns cooking/clean up chores, and buys the food for the group. Some of these boys are 6th graders, and have no clue how to feed a vegetarian. And many of our teens would die if they had to go without meat for a meal, especially when they are working outdoors. LOL!

How would you deal with this? Would you put together a "cookbook" with meals that could have meatless meals pulled out before the meat is added? This would help the boys who are planning the menus. Or would you cut back on these families dues? Maybe present them with the menu in advance and ask them to fill in the gaps with stuff from home? Or would you have them do their own meals? That doesn't work quite as well, since it divides them more from the group.

Also, dare we suggest when the vegetarian is grubmaster that at least one meal a day needs to include meat? Our other boys expect it and it could even be hot dogs that each boy cooks himself. I think we could probably get by with peanut butter at lunch and oatmeal and fruit at breakfast, but my son would croak if you gave him a veggie burger for dinner.

We are meeting this Thursday night and we have a campout coming up the end of the month. So these issues all need to be ironed out.

BTW, don't get me wrong. I have no issues with vegetarian diets. I just am confused about how to handle the situation. Help!

 

[December99]

I think sitting down with the whole group should be first on your list of things to do. You need to talk to them about respecting each other's meal habits, including the food they eat. Then you also need to ask those that are vegetarian how they would feel if they had to cook a meal with meat. Some vegetarians can't stand the smell of meat being cooked and that can be an issue in itself. I would then ask for suggestions of other things to eat instead of meat - or ask what they eat at home instead of meat. It is possible that they eat Boca burgers in place of hamburgers or vegetarian sausages instead of pork sausage for breakfast (I'm a huge meat eater but those Morning Star sausage links are great!!!). There are more and more items out there these days that are a "substitute" for meat that is similar in look to meat to help out those vegetarians and others feel more comfortable - and yes, a kid who is a vegetarian can feel uncomfortable around peers.

Then after talking with them about the above things you can plan your menus. I wouldn't force them to cook a meat meal if they won't be able to tolerate it. The last thing you need is them getting sick from the smell. Also as a sub for meat in a meal you can eat more pasta or rice or bread if you are concerned about them being "filled up" after a day of hard work.

Just some suggestions. I know as Girl Scouts this is becoming more and more common. We just don't make each girl cook a meal so sometimes it's not that big an issue. They all partake in preparing the meals but don't have to do it to the extent the Boy Scouts do at times.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

I've dealt with this a little with one of my Girl Scouts but can NOT imagine dealing with it for Boy Scouts. But here are some thoughts.

First, I would not cut back on dues particularly if you decide that some of the foods will be geared toward the vegetarian diet - you won't necessarily be saving money.

Second, I would continue to have all the boys serve as grubmaster just as normal and yes, the vegetarian boys will have to plan some meals with meat and I would expect some of the meals planned by the other boys to be meatless, or have the option of the meat being left out. Now our boys tend to live on chili so they'd have some serious adaptation to do but it could be done.

Third, I'd provide some options on recipes - this is a learning process as well.

Fourth, I know the planning process the boys go through and we do basically the same thing with our girls. (Hey I have one of each - both programs adapt a little so I don't have to deal with quite so many details!) Once the menu is complete we do let folks know and the girl we had that was extremely particular about what she ate generally brought what she called "emergency food" - usually lunchables. She wasn't vegetarian, just picky. We teased her that she might be the first Scout to starve on a campout. But she took it well. This is a little different. It is something that should be planned around but not exclusively.

My thoughts...good luck!

Deb

 

[fklhou]

How many patrols does your toop have? Our troop is chartered by a Reform Congregation and we have one patrol that keeps Kosher. At least one of the kids in the Kosher patrol is a vegitarian. If you can keep all of the vegitarians in one patrol, then that may help. You might try posting this question on Scouts-L for a more broad based appeal to scouting types. There are 3000+ scouters on that list.

 

[MerryPoppins]

Thanks for the ideas. We do need to make the boys aware of different eating styles, but I also hate to draw too much attention because I know teens can be so sensitive sometimes. I know our picky eater/vegetarian from last year is very sensitive about his diet. He doesn't like to talk about what he will/won't eat. He is the coolest kid. I don't know these new boys well enough yet to know if they are very private about it or not. I really hate to draw attention to these kids if it will make them feel uncomfortable.

It's a fine line. You are right. There are meatless sausages and things out there that are much better than they used to be. I just know how picky teens can be. I'm also a little worried that they wouldn't like what the vegetarian had planned and would hurt his feelings (and not on purpose either - boys can just be blunt!). Boys don't usually handle it well if they are hungry on a campout, actually they don't ever handle being hungry. LOL! We can talk about tolerance, but situations like this are just plain hard!

Our grubmaster doesn't necessarily do all the cooking. We have a huge patrol, over 20 boys. So the grubmaster is in charge of asigning the cooking and cleaning tasks. I would never force a vegetarian to COOK meat, but I'm not sure if there would be anything wrong with asking them to PLAN a meal with meat options. Am I wrong? After all, we are looking at asking the other boys to plan a meatless option. If a grubmaster felt cooking meat was unappealing he could give that job to someone else.

I'd only consider cutting back on dues for those families if I expected them to bring some of the food themselves. I don't know if I really like that idea. I mean how much would we cut back? It could be confusing. This whole situation makes my head hurt!

I am leaning toward making a patrol cookbook with vegetarian options included. Like making spaghetti and stirring the beef into the sauce at the last minute, so some can remain meat-free. I'd include a food pyramid type page to help them balance the meal with suggestions for the meat catagory that would be good substitutes. I might also include some things like hot dogs, that each boy could cook for himself. That would give the vegetarians more options if they found the meat to be something that they couldn't deal with.

 

[MerryPoppins]

Let's see, fklhou. We have 6 patrols, I think. Our area has relatively few vegetarians and not many folks that keep Kosher. One family in our patrol is Jewish, but they have no dietary restrictions. I plan to ask our some of our troop leadership for advice, but I think this is a kind of unique situation for our troop. As far as I knew (before this happened) we have only had one or two families that had special dietary requests. There are probably a few more, but not many.

I may just have to post this on Scouts-L. That is a good idea. I know there has to be a way to work this out where everyone is happy and no one is uncomfortable. I'd like for it to be a learning experience for the boys, not something that makes anyone feel bad.

 

[Girls Scout Leader]

Wow, this is tough. You know I am a Girl's leader (duh) and DH is a Scoutmaster.
In Boy Scouts, here they also divide up chores, the troop as a wholerainstorms with menu ideas, with the requirement that there msut be one "new" thing ( hot dogs, chilli and smores gets old). Then two or three Scouts ( like a couple of younger and an older) do the shopping under a parent's supervivion). At the camp, two does the cooking, two the cleaning, and so on. The resposiblitiy of assigning thoes roles is the Senior Patrol Leader. He keeps a list of previous ones and make the decisions on that.

Try a parent meeting with a questionaire for each boy.
1. Special diet needs. This also includes allergies. including dishwashing soap.
2. Diet preferences
3. Cooking perferences (I had a girl once who could eat no fresh veggies or fruits , but could have canned, cooked.
4. Alternatives that they have found helpful.
5. So that everyone has something on ther list, ask about foods that they absolutely HATE. Ok, I would never make them eat brussel sprouts, but that way eventhe boys with no special needs gets some input.
6. Maybe a question about specialties of the house. Something that a parent or boy makes that is a little different that could be shared. Like a family with a different nationality that could broaden the troops menus.
7. And although weare not really supposed to ask about religion preferences, somce have pretty strict dietary guidelines. I have family members who cannot eat pork or anything that pork has been cooked in. We jsut have to pay attention which hot dogs we buy.
Sorry so long. Just this got me thinking.

 

[Kallison]

I wouldn't cut back on dues, just add some meatless alternatives like the veggie burgers, meatless sausages and the best of all time spaghettios in a can. Our DS was very picky and I just packed him a few cans of his own food but never thought I should get a discount.

 

[leader for life]

Talk to the boys about the foods they like and don't. They may have some great ideas and this whole issue may solve itself. IF not, sit down and talk to the parents. They need to give you suggestions of things that mom and dad do at home. What he eats and likes is a big part of it. If they have a list of suggestions for substitutions for meat. You can even contact your BS office in your area. They have cooking ideas just for this situation. If they don't PM me and I will get a list that I have used.

Use this as a learning experience for you and the boys. More kids are on restircted diets to help them control different things. My daughter is on a low wheat diet so we have to make arrangements at her GS meetings and campouts. All the girls have been learning about how each reacts to different things. We have several that are caffine restricted. We have many ADD kids feel under control just by controling their diets. I even have one that has reactions to bleach. That means we have to bring water that she can use and drink. We go swim at the lake and never at a pool. We just deal with it. We make it a "no big deal" thing. Everyone knows and we all work with it. No words, just deads. The girls actually make plans so the everyone is happy. Kids are really great about making their buddies feel ok if the adults don't make a big deal about it. Communication is the key and be open with everyone.
I use a replacement for buger that is already ground and tastes great. Add some sauce and noodles and you have a one pot meal. We also use veggie burgers at out camp outs. Add all the veggie but they are not necessary. The girls like them and they don't shrink at much as meat burgers. The girls are full and feel great. For breakfast. We do the pancake and veggie sausage. They don't shrink much either. So they are more filling. Just check out the grocery store. I don't know about you, but I take my groups one at a time and make a meal plan, then head for the store. I usually get a mom to go to the store with the girls to pick out all the times for their menu. They work hard on being inclusive because they friends and want everyone to feel part of the group.

Good luck and have great time at your camp out!!!

 

[Cinders]

Possibly you need to have a meeting just for a meal planning lesson. The senior patrol leader needs to ask the vegetarians how they feel about cooking meat so duties can be split up differently. The cookbook sounds like a good idea but dont limit it to vegetarian meals....ask each scouts family to send a "camp" adaptable recipe in that way you'll get a better variety. Also, discuss the vegetarian habits as a group so everyone understands why some changes are going to be made. You wouldnt be insensitive but the boys need to understand that even though they are a patrol and work as a team they have individual beliefs too. You might want to ask if these boys are strict vegetarian or if the parents leave it up to the boys to decide what they eat. I have one young scout at daycamp that his dad always sends a nonmeat lunch but tells me every year that his son may choose our lunch or his own. If they arent strict vegetarians you may be able to use ground turkey in place of hamburger. A search engine can pull up vegetarian recipes too. I make a hummus dip that I just set out at one campout with salsa and tortilla chips next to it and many of the boys tried it and liked it then asked what it was. And they loved a zuchinni casserole I took to a Court of Honor....again let them try it before they are told what it is. I wouldnt lower the dues if you plan to add vegetarian versions of burgers and sausages since I'd bet they cost more per serving.