Our Food Philosophy
At Camp Kawartha we strive to order, prepare and serve food that is consistent with our stated mission: “to create positive stewards of our human and natural communities”. We have created menus that are specifically geared to using locally grown and seasonally produced food. We are committed to delivering the best food we can to insure that our visitors are healthy, happy and energized!
The Camp Kawartha Pledge
We pledge to:
- Use local foods whenever possible and practical. Our Food Services manager has been sourcing more of our food from local farmers and suppliers and reducing our dependency on large food distributors. Use produce from our organic garden and solar green house, when available.
- Reduce the use of “processed foods.” We are using natural and wholesome ingredients in our meals. For example, using whole wheat bread and whole grain pasta.
- Focus on seasonal foods, as much as we can (when reasonable and possible). For example root vegetables in the winter, fresh local fruit in the summer.
- Create innovative menus that inspire health and a connection to our local environment.
- Increase the use of our own garden and solar green house for herbs and vegetables. Part of our summer camp and outdoor education programming involves teaching kids about local foods and making mention of the local producers that helped to grow food for each meal. We are exploring the potential use of a root cellar for storing fresh fruits and vegetables in season and utilizing solar dehydrators to help preserve food.
- Create meals as much as possible from scratch. For example, homemade soups, and homemade baked goods. If we need to purchase supplies (i.e. bread), we insure that the ingredients are wholesome, without preservatives and flavour enhancers.
- Provide alternatives to those visitors with special dietary needs. We will work with our visitors to accommodate special dietary needs, food intolerances and allergies. E.g. sugar reduced diets, vegetarians, vegan meals, gluten free, food allergies, dietary constraints, Halal meals, etc.
- Offer nutritious, well balanced snacks between meals which follow the Ontario Food Guide.
Please note: In order to protect the health and safety of all visitors, we prohibit all foods that contain nuts or traces of nuts.
Sample Menu
The following examples were gathered from previous menus. We prepare our menus using items which are in season and readily available. Their availability is also dependant on the size of the group attending.
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Camp Kawartha Cafe
We have a little coffee and tea corner in our dining hall for guests, and would like to give you some interesting tidbits about your favourite morning brew. These are our current coffee and tea selections which we have chosen with the utmost of care.
Mountain View Estates Coffee: These coffees guarantee farmers a fair price for the goods they produce and pay a decent living wage for their harvest. These coffees are 100% organically grown. Shade grown coffees are grown under existing rainforest canopies; current migratory bird patterns are not disrupted.
Algonquin Tea Company: A local sustainable Tea company that provides 100% organic and wild crafted teas from Whitney, Ontario. All teas are harvested by hand and mixed into traditional native blends for health of body and mind.
Jane Goodall Choice Teas: Offers 100% certified organic and fair trade teas made available from various countries around the world. A percentage of all proceeds go to chimpanzee habitat conservation as well as local youth initiates such as “Roots & Shoots”
Cocoa Camino Hot Chocolate: A fair trade organic dark hot chocolate with simple ingredients.
Demerara and Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar: Provides a healthier organic fair trade alternative to regular white sugar. This sugar is unrefined and contains most of the minerals and vitamins that are lost in regular processed white sugar.
