The most exciting time of day is when the camp comes together in the Dining Hall!
Meal times are more than just a chance to fill up. It’s a time for the entire camp to be together in our beautiful dining hall.
Campers eat with their cabin groups, but get to visit friends from other cabins, while enjoying songs and announcements. It’s a social event that happens 3 times a day. Meals are served family-style. Platters are passed around the table allowing campers to choose what they want to eat. It’s an opportunity to try new things and enjoy old favourites.
Our kitchen staff work hard to prepare healthy and balanced meals that fuel our campers and staff for their active camp day. We aspire to make camp food “food that’s food” so our menu is thoughtfully created to include a variety of meals and lots of choices to ensure everyone can find something they love to eat. We love food at Walden!
Oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, cold cereal, toast, and hard-boiled eggs are available everyday at breakfast in addition to the main meal.
Every day at lunch (except on BBQ days) we offer a salad bar with unlimited quantities of fresh ingredients and an assortment of dressings.
Homemade soups are offered at lunch and dinner – vegetarian when the main course served is meat. Our soups are never made with MSG.
Each day we serve one “sweet” dessert (often freshly baked in the Walden kitchen) and one fruit dessert.
A healthy snack is available at our tuck shop for anyone that wants a piece of fruit and/or cheese, crackers and other “grab ‘n go” bites to tide them over until dinner.
At every meal we will encourage campers to grab a fresh fruit from our “Take one to Go” bowls in the dining hall.
There are 3 outdoor BBQs per week, each serving up a different variety of meat, sides, and vegetarian options.
We are prepared to accommodate special dietary needs or restrictions, including, but not limited to, vegetarian, lactose-free, or Kosher.
Our chefs are always preparing new and healthy alternatives to our vegetarian menu. We encourage families to prepare new meals at home before camp starts for campers to try. This allows campers to be more open to different food options, varieties, and have the confidence to try something new at Walden.
“Please know that Camp Walden is a nut-aware camp, and does not serve any food containing peanut products. Read more about what this means and how we maintain camp as a safe space for campers with allergies.”
* Kosher meat is meat that has been purchased with a Hechsher but please note that it is prepared in our regular kitchen. Every effort is made to keep things separate (i.e. chicken is cooked in an oven on a cookie sheet covered with tin foil or parchment paper) but it would not meet the standard of Kashruth that Kosher restaurants are required to meet.
Do you identify your camper as a “picky eater”? Our approach to picky eating is inspired by the way our Director, Sol (a very picky child) was raised in his family home:
Keep kids active and breathing fresh air in the outdoors.
Swim every day in the summer.
Present a variety of different foods, and, most importantly, not touching each other.
Surround kids with other kids who are less picky.
Counsellors ensure kids choose something to eat, even if it is the same choice every day.
Praise their choice… but not with too big of a deal.
Don’t focus on quantities or on food groups. i.e. Carbs are great! Protein is great!
Realize it’s a long game.
We have seen time and time again that even the pickiest of campers are more likely to try food at camp than at home. So we avoid language like “Solomon is a picky eater” and use “Solomon has been a picky eater… but maybe he will try a new food this summer.”
In addition to the meal itself and the sides it is served with, here is a list of items that we also provide for our campers:
We do not prepare individual special meals for picky eaters!
New to Walden? Have a look at our Information Sessions or find out about our Discovery Programs.
Already registered? Make sure to fill out our Spring Registration Form so we have all of your up-to-date information.
