Special Diets on Tour

[shawn craig]

There were some threads earlier about which corps have the best food etc.

So what about corps members with special diets, not picky eaters but those who have health or religious food issues etc.

Diabetes, Food Allergies, other Health Issues:

Diabetics mostly need to eat a reasonable diet low in carbs, not a big problem lots of high protein snacks, just no desserts, . Members could be allergic to lots of things, dairy being perhaps the biggest concern.

Vegetarians and Vegans:

Vegetarians, no meat but dairy and eggs ok, wouldn't be too difficult as long as there is peanut butter and other protein available. Vegans, no meat or meat by-products, I think this would be very difficult on tour.

Religious Diets:

Many religions have food codes; most notably in many is no pork.

Did anyone either have these issues themselves or know members in your corps with food issues.

Edited August 15, 2006 by shawn craig

[kac]

There were some threads earlier about which corps have the best food etc.

So what about corps members with special diets, not picky eaters but those who have health or religious food issues etc.

Diabetes, Food Allergies, other Health Issues:

Diabetics mostly need to eat a reasonable diet low in carbs, not a big problem lots of high protein snacks, just no desserts, . Members could be allergic to lots of things, dairy being perhaps the biggest concern.

Vegetarians and Vegans:

Vegetarians, no meat but dairy and eggs ok, wouldn't be too difficult as long as there is peanut butter and other protein available. Vegans, no meat or meat by-products, I think this would be very difficult on tour.

Religious Diets:

Many religions have food codes; most notably in many is no pork.

Did anyone either have these issues themselves or know members in your corps with food issues.

I cooked at the winter camps for Crossmen this year and deal with food allergies every day.

Crossmen had vegetarians at the camps as well as members with various food allergies. I recall dairy, egg, and peanut allergies specifically. We made sure that they had vegetarian options (boca burgers, etc) /allergy safe foods for them at each meal, and any allergic kids were informed if something wasn't safe for them to eat.

I think probably the most difficult FA's to deal with on tour would be wheat (bread, pasta, gluten, etc) and in conjunction with that, Celiac disease (gluten intolerance). Wheat/gluten is in SO many products. It would be difficult, but not impossible, to keep wheat-free items from being cross-contaminated on a food truck (gluten free pasta would be cooked in dedicated pots and not used for anything else, dedicated utensils for food prep, etc).

Dairy is actually pretty easy to avoid if you know how to do it- and teenagers/young adults with FA's usually know what they can/can't eat by that age.

People now are much more aware of food restrictions either by personal choice or necessity than they were when I marched. It was tough finding dairy free options back then- except for pb&j, pasta, and lunchmeat.

[ieuph7]

As a strict vegan (no dairy/animal products), I found that everyone was very receptive, kind, and rescourseful in terms of my diet restrictions. Sometimes things were a bit difficult, (such as when the food truck was low on supplies and waiting for a shipment...so PBandJ was pretty much it), but I would think that any corps would be receptive enough to work with you.

[shawn craig]

As a strict vegan (no dairy/animal products), I found that everyone was very receptive, kind, and rescourseful in terms of my diet restrictions. Sometimes things were a bit difficult, (such as when the food truck was low on supplies and waiting for a shipment...so PBandJ was pretty much it), but I would think that any corps would be receptive enough to work with you.

It's good to know corps are making adjustments and being respectful of these things. Not sure how well someone being a vegan would have gone over in my day. My director would have been fine with it, not sure about our cook.

[bearz]

I believe in the Blue Stars this year something like 13-15 members (10%!) were vegetarian...at least that was my impression. I know the cooks were very aware of this for every meal, and made vegetarian versions of almost every dish possible. In addition, I put in a garden this year especially for the corps (I called it my Victory Garden) and 4 times during tour I brought fresh veggies for everyone, but especially for the veg/vegans, because I know how hard it is to find fresh veggies on tour. I had never met a vegetarian before last year, so I learned alot about this special diet area, and since I learned it from the Blue Stars cooks, I'm sure they took it VERY seriously.