Blog
Food, glorious food & Goop Shoutout!
Exciting news! Once again, Goop, a natural health company providing new age advice, has recognized Camp Wekeela as one of the best summer camps in North America. We are privileged and honored. One of the many things that makes Wekeela special is the food we serve. Wekeela serves GREAT FOOD which is made from scratch and served with love! Throughout the year, campers regularly call requesting recipes for our famous granola, hummus, scones, and saying they dream about Wekeela food all winter long. The upcoming summer we have revised our menus and added new exciting meal options.
Under the direction of Chef Carlton Jaquess, our hard-working kitchen crew makes everything we serve: no pre-packaged, heat and eat at Wekeela! Every day we bake bread and build tasty meals. We do our best to see that even the most picky eater always leaves the table fully satisfied. A lot of our fruits and vegetables are naturally organic as they are from locally grown Maine farmers. We take pride in our sustainable sourced ingredients. Take a look at the incredible Camp Wekeela dining hall!
Our summer menu is fresh every week and we encourage our campers to try new foods every meal. Breakfast includes an enormous breakfast bar with fresh fruit such as bananas, fresh Maine blueberries, Chobani Greek yogurt, and Columbo yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, homemade coffee cake, and a variety of cold cereals. We also proudly serve homemade granola and homemade hot steel-cut oatmeal. Campers and staff have a daily choice of fat free milk, lactose-free milk and soy milk, as well as chocolate milk once a week. At lunch and dinner we offer a generous salad bar which everyone loves. It includes items such as edamame, tofu, to name a few as well as an array of fresh vegetables and a variety of Ken’s Steak House dressings. We also offer Sunbutter (a peanut butter taste-alike) with fresh wheat or multi-grain bread. Campers love our juicy hamburgers, Hebrew National kosher hot dogs served on grilled rolls, white meat chicken tenders and golden-brown French fries. Our savory and delicious steak is served weekly. We offer gluten-free and vegetarian options at every meal. Dinner always ends with a fantastic dessert, such as S’more brownies, Wekeela’s infamous cakes, warm chocolate chip cookies, or everyone’s favorite, make your sundaes!
At Wekeela, we love eating our meals family-style. Campers sit at a table with their counselors, who serve the food and lead the conversation, as everyone enjoys the meal together. Some of the best camp friends are made over great food at your table each week! While we eat most of our meals family style, we also enjoy theme meals. These are a fun way to mix up meal time at Wekeela. We tend to go big with decorations, music, costumes, and themed food. Some of the Wekeela favorites are Taco Tuesdays, Gladiator, and Cabaret where counselors dress up and a multi-course dinner is served while campers enjoy a staff talent show. One of the highlights of the summer is our annual Lobster Bake, which is simply a delicious traditional Maine meal with a chill vibe of a night!
Snacks
Everyday in the mid-afternoon we offer our camp community a healthy fruit. One day it could be an apple another it may be a peach, nectarine, etc.. In the early evening we provide a healthy snack suck as a variety of Nutrigrain bars, Pop Corners, mini chocolate chip cookies and other general kid friendly snacks.
Picky Eaters
A lot of families worry about picky eaters. Your child will be very active and will be hungry at meal times. There will always be something Even the pickiest eater can find to eat. Often peer pressure works magically-your child will see everyone eating something they may not have considered eating and will instantly enjoy it.
Food Allergies
Did you know Wekeela is one of the top rated food allergy summer camps in the nation!
It is crucial for us to know of any food allergies your child may have. Our kitchen has several years of experience preparing allergen-free food and are eager to serve your camper! We maintain a nut-free camp. We do not have nuts or use any nut products in our cooking at Wekeela or nor do we allow outside packages that may contain nuts.
Specialty Diets
The top two special diet requests at Wekeela are gluten-free diets and vegetarian diets, respectively. Please contact us if you need more information on how we take care of campers with food allergies and special dietary needs. Each allergy must be documented by a medical professional in order to accommodate our campers. Vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, and others also available at our camp.
The state of Maine has become the first state to ban (effective January 1, 2021) single-use food and drink containers made from polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam We feel that’s fantastic! That said, Wekeela is not waiting. Instead of Styrofoam, we are using coffee mugs for hot beverages daily and utilizing biodegradable plates (made from sugar cane) as well as paper plates for our food services on Wekeela (special days). Camp food service today is uniquely different than it was years ago. Staff retention, rising costs, and new challenges in diet bring new dynamics. Note, campers are permitted one package per session. Packages cannot contain food. Please ensure you are aware of this policy. At Wekeela we continue to educate ourselves constantly and we will always rise to the challenge! Here’s to a DELICIOUS summer!