Meals and Food

I have heard that food is always bad at all summer camps. Is that true?

No! Ok, yes, some camps have terrible food. But Clara Barton Camp and Camp Joslin aren't camps with bad food. 

Camp provides 3 meals and 2 snacks every day, including on your days off. This is free to you! (However, if you get food off-camp or on a cultural "field trip", you will have to pay for that yourself.) During the hiring process, you will be asked to fill out a survey which includes any dietary restrictions/allergies/preferences, and we can accommodate all of those needs. For example, we always have gluten-free, lactose-free, and vegetarian options, and we are completely peanut-free. (Peanut-free means that NO peanut products can be at camp.)

Click here to see the menu from a week of camp last summer. You'll see that we had some delicious meals. We always have a salad bar at meals for healthy options and for those that don't want the main dish. We also always have a "carb bar" for kids and staff to insure they are consuming enough carbohydrates at meals. This "carb bar" has breakfast cereals (Rice Krispies, Chex, Cheerios), bread, and bagels. The "carb bar" is unique to our camps as we serve people with diabetes.

One reason for the rumor of "bad food at camp" is that the menu rotates. This means that we have the same meals every Monday, or every other Monday.

Finally, food is not allowed to be kept in the cabins because it attracts bugs/mice and because we need to carefully monitor what food campers consume. We will go over how we deal with food for people with low blood sugar during training; but unlike your friends that may keep snacks in their personal belongings, we can't do that here.

Generally, there is no access to the kitchen for staff to cook meals. There is no access to storage or refrigeration for personal food. Exceptions can be made upon request but that is unusual because we provide all meals and snacks.