group camping and food
June 28, 2010 9:02 AM   Subscribe

organization VS random chaos...help me decide!

Me and my partner throw a big Camping Extravaganza every year with our friends and family. This year it is over the Fourth of July weekend...meaning this coming weekend. We camp in the middle of nowhere and we never really know how many people will be coming. In years past everyone has brought all of their own food and cooked it themselves but we end up with an incredible excess of food and it seems silly.

In my dreams and fantasies I would like to somehow organize the food situation so that we can communally buy and make food all weekend but I'm wondering if it is worth the hassle. There will probably be somewhere between 20-50 people and most of these peeps are single or coupled, some have kids but not many. Additionally, everyone is kind of coming and going at random times. Some are staying for five days, some are coming for a night. Most will probably be there from Friday night to sometime Sunday but there are many people that we will not be able to pin point.

Ideally I would make a menu and have people sign up for ingredients so that not everyone has to bring everything. The problems before me are these:
- we don't know who is really coming
- we are mostly using facebook and not everyone checks it
- I worry about everything, regardless

We all end up bringing the same kinds of foods- eggs and bacon for breakfast and some kind of meat to grill for dinner. Me and one other person will be making a big pot meal to share. If we all bring the same stuff anyway, do I really need to do this? Is there just going to be too much food no matter what we do? Why do I want to do this anyway? Am I insane?

Everyone is pretty much waiting on me to decide and no one really has a preference. I still get nervous with food sharing because I worry that someone won't bring what they are supposed to and we might run out of canned potatoes OMG.

Summary of question: Should I organize food sharing for a bunch of misfits a week before our big camping trip or just let the universe guide us?

I have searched metafilter a bit and found this: http://ask.metafilter.com/130748/How-do-we-share-camping-meal-assigments but there situation is a lot prettier than mine.
posted by janelikes to Food & Drink (15 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I think there are really only two options:

1. Offer to bring all the ingredients and do all the cooking yourself and ask others to chip in cash to offset the cost. Of course, you need to be understanding if people decide to opt out.

OR

2. Just let the bacon and eggs fall where they may. Maybe try to arrange a big communal meal or two once you're already there by just assessing what's available and going form there.


Trying to work out a semi-potluck menu in advance is going to be a terrible headache and hassle, even for the people who like that sort of thing ("What do you mean Bob's decided to come a day late? He's supposed to bring the butter!"). And there are plenty of people, like myself, who would find the very idea oppressive. Some people go camping to get away from structure and would probably resent it even if they didn't say as much.
posted by 256 at 9:10 AM on June 28, 2010


Summary of question: Should I organize food sharing for a bunch of misfits a week before our big camping trip

Summary of answer: Nope.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:12 AM on June 28, 2010 [2 favorites]


Could you send out an email saying something like:
Dear friends,
We are so looking forward to seeing you all this weekend. Traditionally we all bring and cook food for ourselves. This year we were thinking that it might be fun to do something like a weekend-long potluck. This is an informal survey to find out what your thoughts are. Would you like to bring a dish to share? If so please let me know what you would like to bring so we can fill in the gaps. If you would rather not then feel free to let us know that too.
posted by amethysts at 9:18 AM on June 28, 2010


We couldn't get this together for three couples (six people) at my friend's shore house last month. Trying for 25-30 people seems doomed to fail. Chaos it is!
posted by fixedgear at 9:19 AM on June 28, 2010


Is anyone seriously hurting for money, to the point where doing this would make or break whether they could go on this trip? I'm guessing not, since you have a lot of people coming anyway. So I'd just say not to worry about it. Doing something like this will probably ruin the weekend for you.
posted by lunasol at 9:19 AM on June 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


My father in law organizes all the food for an annual fishing trip, but he's only able to do it because everyone who will be there commits well ahead of time. FIL makes a meal plan, a grocery list, and does all the shopping (or delegates). It doesn't sound as if you can possibly do this with such a spontaneous gathering.

Perhaps you could handle it as an extended potluck? Tell potential attendees what cooking equipment you will be providing. Ask them to bring any other special equipment that they might need for whatever food prep they plan to do. Point out that each person does not need to make enough of each dish to feed everyone there; instead, each should bring roughly the amount of food that they will consume during their entire stay.
posted by jon1270 at 9:22 AM on June 28, 2010


We all end up bringing the same kinds of foods- eggs and bacon for breakfast and some kind of meat to grill for dinner. Me and one other person will be making a big pot meal to share. If we all bring the same stuff anyway, do I really need to do this?

There are a bunch of annoying aspects that come into play when people start sharing food. Do some people only want some certain type of bacon? We someone get upset if they bring a small amount of some type of food they like and it gets eaten by everyone else? When people are in charge of their own food you don't have to deal with any of that.

Is there just going to be too much food no matter what we do?

Probably. People always tend to bring more food than they need because they don't want to run out, or they don't want to spend the last day eating just eggs and marshmallows or whatever random food is left. If anything having a community food supply is just going to make calculating how much food to bring more difficult.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:28 AM on June 28, 2010


Because time is short, I'd say let the chips fall where they may this year and talk to everyone about whether they'd be interested in having you coordinate a more organized food situation next year. But I think you'd have to make it clear that you'd kind of have to know who's coming ahead of time to make it work. At this point, the spontaneity and silly amount of food may be part of the fun for people. Imposing some sort of order will probably limit the fun for some people, so I'd just float the idea at this year's extravaganza and see what people think. If the food isn't going to waste (people take it home and use it there), the excess may not actually be that big of a problem.
posted by BlooPen at 9:36 AM on June 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


With that many variables, the universe really is in charge. Maybe just remind people that they are not required to feed 20 people, and to just bring the around the amount of food they will be consuming themselves. There will always be extra, but reminder might help ease it up a bit.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 9:41 AM on June 28, 2010


I used to be part of an annual thanksgiving weekend camping extravaganza. Based on that experience - similar numbers, similar time frames, similar food issues - I have to say, don't even try to corral anything at this late stage in the game.

We had a fairly consistent rotation of turkey and sides, and you can only imagine the contingencies involved in cooking a turkey in the woods, and every year there was someone who had an Idea that was really just a solution in search of a problem.

I agree that sometimes food gets wasted on camping trips, but I suggest that your energy might be better spent keeping the kiddos (and some adults) from dispensing treats to the raccoons.

Not only do people have prefernces for bacon brands, but also doneness, quantity, mealtimes, beverages, double dipping, and condiments.

Joe bringing the mustard is going to lead to three other people still bring mustard because they don't trust joes judgement, and 6 people dissapointed in their sandwiches (however briefly) because the mustard was all wrong. (where mustard is any food/condiment and sandwiches are any dish/meal)

As a pretty hard core camper, I'm learning to loosen up a bit and let folks overpack if they decide to. I have some micromanaging tendencies, and they usually don't make the woods more fun.
posted by bilabial at 9:44 AM on June 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


I agree that you don't have enough time this year.

Talk to everybody who comes to this year's gathering and see if they'd be interested in a communal food situation for next year. Then you have all year to figure things out and contact people.

For what it's worth, even when we've done the communal food style camp out there is always a lot of leftovers.
posted by TooFewShoes at 9:59 AM on June 28, 2010


There's a couple of relatively simple possibilities, although more time would help.

1. Offer to go to the cash and carry for some basic items in bulk. Those who want to join in have to tell you in advance, and there needs to be a very simple way for people to work out what they will get and what it will cost.

2. Encourage more people to sign up as a family to be in charge of one specific meal for the whole group. Anyone who isn't happy to eat whatever they get, doesn't participate and cooks for themselves. This scheme requires one person to bring the kind of equipment necessary for large scale cookery.

People should only be involved if they actively sign up.

Even so, you risk problems with miscommunication, people pulling out at the last minute, etc.
posted by emilyw at 10:45 AM on June 28, 2010


Chaos. Definitely. Organization takes a lot of work, everyone is going to have preferences all over the map, some people are going to step up, some aren't. Focus on having a good time instead of lists, prep, etc. One group dinner/party sounds feasable (but make it a potluck), but the rest will a headache and keep you from living in the moment with your friends.
posted by Vaike at 10:48 AM on June 28, 2010


There will probably be somewhere between 20-50 people
So, you have to pack for 50 people, for the whole weekend. If only 20 show up and they only stay one day, then you'll have more than five times the food that you need. When people pack for themselves, they probably only pack if they know they're going to show up (or at least they have a much better idea of how big their specific subgroup will be).

Add in allergies (can you certify that nothing has come into contact with peanuts or peanut products in any way ever?), picky people, cooking preferences.... Yes, you are insane (I mean that in the nicest way). This would be a total nightmare, if it really really bothers you just remind people to limit their packing, especially perishable items (everything else really does get packed back up and eaten in the car or at home).
posted by anaelith at 12:40 PM on June 28, 2010


In my mind, these are the (types of) things that you might want to (if you can afford it) bring for everyone's use:

-ketchup
-mustard
-mayo
-BBQ sauce
-hot sauce
-butter
-salt and pepper
-ice
-lemons and limes
-napkins
-marshmallows
-chocolate
-graham crackers

What people should bring for themselves:
-cups, cutlery, plates, bowls
-all other food and drink
-booze

If a person knows they are only buying for themselves and their spouse for one day, for instance, they could just seperate 4 eggs from the dozen at home, 6 pieces of bacon from the package at home, 4 pieces of bread from the bag at home, etc. It might make things easier to organize for them - and certainly for you!

In summary, don't be a hero.
posted by cranberrymonger at 10:54 AM on June 29, 2010


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