Capital Regiment Website

[Ben]

Good old days of eating? Again, I dont see how the human organism has changed so much that nutrition now must be strictly monitored. If anything there is a higher percentage of college kids in the activity now than when I marched, kids who I think can be counted on to be smart enough to eat more than Twizzlers and Good n Plenty.

I honestly have to chuckle because in every way todays corps kids are being billed as the best and smartest ever, but not smart enough to know evidently whats smart to eat and whats not.

kids have changed a lot, the drive and desire to be the best as a corps member is still there. but when it comes to food, i believe giving someone a set meal is a better bet than just dropping them all of at mcdonalds. especially when it comes to first time marchers, they are new to the tour and haven't quite grasped what's the best to eat and when to eat it. plus honestly, what's better for you, making sure everyone gets a good meal that will provide them the energy they need? or letting them go hog wild on fast food? honestly if i was on tour and we ate fast food all the time, i'd be crapping myself constantly :P

[rmurrey74]

I dont think you really want to trade "dismal show sites or rehearsal venues" stories with people from "my time". I havent argued that cook trucks dont make any sense or that they are bad or anything like that. Just that once again in the context of this discussion, it might have been better if Cap Reg spent its money on other things and let the kids do what kids that age do which is choose their own food.. (Altho it appears that CR didnt even manage to always spend their money on food)

You didn't answer the question. You say that CR really didn't need to provide food, but what about rehearsal venues or dismal show sites? The last time I toured, a majority of the places where we stayed had NOTHING around them. How does this work? The corps jumps on the busses every day during lunch to go to the local mall? 2 hours later, they start rehearsing again? Not feasible at all.

I would never have marched if I had to worry about my own meals. As a college student, I wouldn't have been able to afford it. Back then, I would not have been smart enough to eat healthy every meal. Most likely I would buy the cheapest food I could find. I have a feeling most cash strapped members currently marching would do the same thing.

And of course there are meals that aren't as healthy as others. I'm sure they may also be some of the favorites. They're not being served everyday.

[tubamann]

Gee since you put so much thought into your answer, I guess Ill have to change my mind

Seriously, has human physiology been reinvented since 1970 or something? Feel free to describe your differences of opinion with actual rebuttal please.

No, the expectations of members, parents (either of whom pay big $$$ to be in a corps these days) and society has changed, as well as the DCI touring model.

What worked in 1977 would not be feasalbe today. Simple. The end.

[rmurrey74]

Good old days of eating? Again, I dont see how the human organism has changed so much that nutrition now must be strictly monitored. If anything there is a higher percentage of college kids in the activity now than when I marched, kids who I think can be counted on to be smart enough to eat more than Twizzlers and Good n Plenty.

I honestly have to chuckle because in every way todays corps kids are being billed as the best and smartest ever, but not smart enough to know evidently whats smart to eat and whats not.

A majority of the kids marching today are not smart enough to always eat healthy. That's reality. Stop in a truck stop after a show while a corps is gassing up. Count how many of the kids are buying healthy food and how many are buying junk food. Rarely will you see someone getting something healthy. I've witnessed this every summer for the past 4 summers. Many corps have put in rules to not allow anyone to buy anything at rest areas because of this (and also time).

College kids are smart enough to eat better? This was the total opposite when I was in college. We ate the cheapest food we could find. I ate better before college.

[Scerpella]

I would never have marched if I had to worry about my own meals. As a college student, I wouldn't have been able to afford it. Back then, I would not have been smart enough to eat healthy every meal. Most likely I would buy the cheapest food I could find. I have a feeling most cash strapped members currently marching would do the same thing.

Well consider the fact you would not have been charged the same tour fees and probably could have afforded to feed yourself.

I guess Im just taken aback by all these opinions that cook trucks are an absolute necessity. Makes me wonder how I ever got through 4 1/2 years of junior drum corps without contracting dysentery or scurvy. :P

We do know I think that cook trucks and providing meals for a corps is a very expensive proprosition and endeavor, one which at least one corps wasnt able to do consistently. The impression I get from some if we understand that money is finite, is that it would have been better that Cap Reg never left on tour because of it.

[ssorrell]

1. Good corps understand the need to feel their members well. The physical demands placed on the participants (150-200 sets vs. 30; at break-neck speeds and astronomical demand) have increased by factors since the 70's, to the point that they are world-class athletes (remember the IU study that placed the cardivascular activity of a corps member at the level of a world-class runner..do you see any huge kids in the top 12?); and therefore need to be fed very well; and come of the modern corps can put out one heck of a meal.

It doesn't matter if you march 200 sets or only 10 sets, the corps practice on the field a given set of hours each day in the hot sun, whether its current day or the 1970s.

Sure, demand is greater today and drill is more difficult, but does that make today's members burn more calories, thus giving them greater nutritional needs?

for what it's worth, there were times in the 80s when my corps found it difficult to feed us as well as other days...cheese and crackers or plain old pb& j's a couple of times. We never complained and we kept going. Sometimes things happen to good corps by people with better intentions. As in this case with Rick Bays...I don't know him nor his intentions, but apparently something went wrong somewhere...I'm sure he didn't intend for things like the lack of food to happen. Other things that have been reported do raise questions of mismanagement, and I'm sure that from this overflow of information someone will be looking deeply into that corps.

Edited August 23, 2006 by ssorrell

[rmurrey74]

Well consider the fact you would not have been charged the same tour fees and probably could have afforded to feed yourself.

I guess Im just taken aback by all these opinions that cook trucks are an absolute necessity. Makes me wonder how I ever got through 4 1/2 years of junior drum corps without contracting dysentery or scurvy. :P

We do know I think that cook trucks and providing meals for a corps is a very expensive proprosition and endeavor, one which at least one corps wasnt able to do consistently. The impression I get from some if we understand that money is finite, is that it would have been better that Cap Reg never left on tour because of it.

Maybe for fast food, but you're saying a decent meal at a normal restaurant which on the extreme low end would probably be at least $5. Even at $15 a day for all 3 meals plus a snack (which again, $15 would be on the extreme low end) that would be about $1350 a member for 90 days of tour. When I marched, tour fees were $600.

How does your math work?

[ScribeToo]

Would be boring if we agreed on everything I think.

First of all please be less careless in quoting or paraphrasing me. I said:

Not most as you wrote.

My bad.. I generalize.. you were more specific. I stand by my response, however. Most strip malls do NOT have a wide selection of nutritionally sound and affordable restaurant options available.

Secondly I have read many discussions on DCP and RAMD about "favorite dishes on tour and cook truck favorites" and the like. Much of it Id characterize as empty carbs or high fat or full of sugar. My point being not that these are bad foods but that a young persons metabolism can operate more efficiently on pretty much anything thats shovelled into it. Its us oldsters that need to watch this or that in our diet.

Here's a link you might find interesting: Nutrition while in training (marathon)

A quote from this article:

What type of food is best for energy?

Carbohydrate (CHO) is the most efficient form of energy and all athletes are recommended to follow a high carbohydrate diet. Carbohydrate-rich foods include bread, crackers and bagels; pasta, noodles, rice and couscous; breakfast cereals; fruit and milk.

The longer you spend training the more carbohydrate you need.

For regular folks like you and me, carbs and sugar are "empty" and cause weight gain, sluggishness and all sorts of bad news. For atheletes in training and needing peak performance and energy, it's the sweet nectar of life. They are basically IN TRAINING the whole time they are on tour.. their dietary needs change for the things they are doing compared to "regular life." You have to adapt in that situation or you will quickly become lethargic and undernourished as your body begins to consume the thing you need most in order to fuel itself (first fat and then when that's all gone, ultimately muscle -- bad news)..

I dont think you really want to trade "dismal show sites or rehearsal venues" stories with people from "my time". I havent argued that cook trucks dont make any sense or that they are bad or anything like that. Just that once again in the context of this discussion, it might have been better if Cap Reg spent its money on other things and let the kids do what kids that age do which is choose their own food.. (Altho it appears that CR didnt even manage to always spend their money on food)

I wasn't making my comparison to say "we had it so bad" -- we didn't. I was making it so you can understand that current drum corps aren't always in the middle of town. Sometimes the time, effort and fuel expended to do as you suggest are poorly spent to feed the corps that way. See also Chris Nalls' comment on being in a corps that did things that way.

[craiga]

I also marched in the early 80s, and I can tell you that a 66 day tour was UNHEARD OF. We did lots of extended weekends and a a two week tour. A food truck wasn't necessary, but it certainly is now for all of the above reasons.

Like many Div 1 corps, Boston actually prepares four meals a day for the kids, and it is all you can eat. Other corps do the same. And yes, what would you do if your housing was in Oshkosh with no restaurant within twenty miles?

The moblie kitchens aree a requirement for touring, period. If you don't have one, you don't tour.

[rmurrey74]

Well consider the fact you would not have been charged the same tour fees and probably could have afforded to feed yourself.

I guess Im just taken aback by all these opinions that cook trucks are an absolute necessity. Makes me wonder how I ever got through 4 1/2 years of junior drum corps without contracting dysentery or scurvy. :P

We do know I think that cook trucks and providing meals for a corps is a very expensive proprosition and endeavor, one which at least one corps wasnt able to do consistently. The impression I get from some if we understand that money is finite, is that it would have been better that Cap Reg never left on tour because of it.

You also still did not answer the other question. How does the corps eat when there's nothing around the rehearsal or show site?