Sixty Tons of Food Wasted on Visiting Days Across Northeast

Huron Lake, PA (July 25, 2017) – In a recently concluded study by the American Camp Association (ACA) and Camp Huron Lake, it was determined that over the last two weekends of Visiting Days over sixty tons of food were completely wasted by campers and parents alike. The study included food that was not allowed at camp due to nut content, any food that was bitten into and thrown away, and chocolate, sushi, and chocolate covered sushi that was left unattended on picnic blankets in the summer heat.

In addition to the food wasted, thousand of hockey sticks, tennis racquets, other sporting equipment as well as Styrofoam coolers have been trashed due to copious amounts of hot glue and wrapped candy stuck all over the items. The ACA estimates that on average parents with two campers spent just north of $260 on food and candy only to have their children eat less than $8 worth. Much of this can be attributed to vomiting from rapid sugar intake after several weeks of only small doses of sweets and candy.

At most camps, including Huron Lake, campers can enjoy their food for dinner the night of Visiting Day but then the rest must be discarded or donated. The Pocono Valley Food Bank (PVFB), a recipient of much of the camp’s leftover food at the end of the summer, is appreciative of the Visiting Day haul but has never in ten summers distributed any of the donated items.

“While we appreciate that the local camps want to help, there really is no way on God’s green earth we could give out this sucrose-filled crap they give us every year. The people who come to the food bank don’t need slutty brownies or Laffy Taffy that was glued to a baseball glove,” explained PVFB Executive Director Maurice Brown, “They need healthy options like fresh fruit, not candy made with .002% fruit juice. What’s wrong with these parents???” Brown then added that most of the food goes either directly into the incinerator or straight to the town dump.

Huron Lake parent Randi Wasserstein feted her three children this year with mini cupcakes from Baked by Melissa, two dozen bagels and lox, a case of Dr. Brown’s Cherry Soda, two large pizzas from their favorite pizzeria, seven servings of sushi, and a two-pound bag of pure sugar. “I wanted to make sure whatever they were craving, I’d be able to provide them,” she stated as she watched each child gain between four and seven pounds while increasing their blood pressures by 75% in a matter of three hours.