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I'm a complete rookie and i'm thinking about giving tree planting a try this season. I am a vegan though and I would not be willing to compromise. So I was wondering if any companies offer vegan meals or if there are any vegan specific camps?
most cooks in treeplanting camps yes......... but if planting out of a logging camp i would not count on a true vegan diet vegiterian yes ............over all treeplanter campcooks cooks will accomadaite your dietery needs that is one of the reasons you pay camp cost after all ....it may me best the advise the companie you work for before you start... it will help the cook know before hand to help make things easy
Would I have any luck if I brought egg replacers with me?
Possibly, but especially in very small camps. In larger camps, with two cooks taking care of as many as 45-60 people, it is very difficult to find the time consistently to be able to prepare separate dishes. On some days, dealing with special dietary requests is quite easy, but on the busy days (start of contract, end of contract, days in town getting food orders) there simply isn't enough time for the cooks to make specialty dishes. Occasionally, you'll find cooks who can manage, but the majority find themselves under very difficult time pressures.
jeremytough1 believe it or not your not alone. Im a vegan and have no problems eating a well balanced diet out planting. On my crew I have 3 other vegans and 1 vegetarian. In the past when I started planting I would just do my best, I would buy almond butter instead of using there hydrogenated peanut butter and because they supplied rice cakes and healthy bread I was able to pack great lunches. For breakfast our cooks will put out soymilk along with lots of fruit and oat meal. Dinner they have a specialized vegetarian menu however, this coming year we will be pushing for a straight vegan choice with no dairy. In the past I have eaten dairy but ever since reading the China Study I cant turn back. This will be the first year where I will not accept any dairy or meat. We have an AGM this winter and it will be interesting to see how things go. We have some great arguments to push the new menu plan, for example its about half the cost as any meat diet! I will keep you posted.
PS I highballed the camp/company for a number of years on a vegan diet, planted 5700 trees in one day on a vegan diet. Bottom line a vegan diet will have no negative effect on your planting and for me defiantly gives me less friction and more energy.
jeremytough1, although I do respect the moral reasons for eating vegan and in part this is why I am vegan, but the #1 reason im Vegan is because of the way it makes me feel and the science to back it up.
A great read is “The China Study”, basically directly links heart disease, cancer and a slew of other aliments to human consumption of animal protein. Its extremely hard to argue with the science behind this book. The largest nutritional study ever conducted on this plant.
Scooter: I definitely understand what you are saying. If I was a cook and I was feeding 40+ people I don't know if i'd want to make seperate dishes for 1-2 people.
I will look around for smaller camps, ask beforehand and try to find some vegans who have done tree planting before for some advice.
red: I figured I couldn't be the only vegan who wants to tree plant!
It seems like a job that lends itself to vegans, haha.
I'm very happy to hear that people are pushing vegan and vegetarien diets more and more these days. It can be much cheaper and healthier than a traditional diet.
And although I am vegan for moral reasons, like you health reasons play a huge part.
I think that if I really plan ahead, make sure that i'm healthy going into this and pack a few of my own supplies, I should survive. I just need to find a camp that will hopefully accomodate a bit.
haha yah, Its very hard to be a minority especially a minority of a minority. Seems there is allot of choices out there for Vegetarian dishes but not much regarding vegans. Its very hard for a cook to accommodate 1 person regardless of the camp size especially if they have no experience in cooking vegan dishs. What I have planned is to just ask them to cook a batch of a certain grain quona brown rice amaranth ext/ aswell as some steamed boiled or raw veggies and tofu to add to it. From this base one can produce a very healthy meal. I will also bring a vegan cook book and on the slower days they will be able to try some new dishes.
In my honest opinion its only a matter of time before veganism becomes just a popular as vegetarianism if not for health reasons alone and we will see many Vegan compatible camps.
I completely agree with you, Redbaron, about the growing popularity of Veganism. I remember trying to switch to Veganism back in '98 and it was so difficult simply because a lot of the pre-packaged foods were so expensive and hard to find (and tasted terrible). Now vegan meals seem to be common at a lot of grocery stores, and they actually taste good. It's a reaction to market demand and will keep going. It's really so easy now to be vegan, I'm thinking about trying it again myself.
Yah i cant belive the selection now days, tones of organic and vegan stuff even presedents choice is pumping out organic lol. However all one really needs is a good produce and fruit selection with a variety of grains and you can put together some killer dishs. I also noticed allot of vegan type breads out there. I have never tryed any pre packaged vegan foods but im sure they are good. I have allways tended to stick to the fresh whole foods with not so much added oils and preservativs. However when one doesnt have much time those can come in handy.
red: I was actually going to send you an email today!
when I was 15 years old I gave veganism a try and it was the hardest thing I had ever done. Apart from the fact that I was not very informed, no stores carried anything remotely vegan and eating at restaurants was impossible! Nowadays it's so much easier. If I really have a craving for something animal based there are so many alternatives out there.
Veganism also opened so many doors to me because it forced me to become very creative with my cooking(my food has never looked so colourful!)
As a cook, i'd say your best bet as a strict vegan is to have a good chat with the cook in the first day or two of the season, and to recognize that you may have to make compromises in terms of variety of food. If the cook recognizes that you are willing to partner with him/her rather than appear to be a culinary adversary, my guess is that you will have a great summer food-wise.
RedBaron's suggestions are good (organic almond butter packs better nutrients than most bulk PB, getting high-protein-grain based 'casseroles', etc.) Soymilk is a regular presence in most camps these days. Breakfast can be a tough one for cooks not used to preparing vegan food, but you still should have plenty of options: oatmeals/other porridges (Red River, barley, etc), granola, soymilk, toast, nut butters/jam, soy smoothies, grilled veggies, etc. Bring your own protein powder mix, and ask if you can use the blender in the morning....if you offer to clean up after, and stay out of the cook's way, this should be a very reasonable request!
At lunch, it is reasonable to expect some variety of non-dairy spreads (hummus or other bean-based spread, walnut-tofu pate, guacamole, etc) for your sandwiches, as well as soy cheese if you request it. See if your cook can put out leftover grilled veggies or prepared tofu from the the last night's dinner - these make great wraps. Also, if you bring tupperware then leftovers can be absolutely fantastic lunches, and it may make the cook's life a little easier if he/she can think in terms of one big dish=dinner&next day's lunch for you, instead of a dinner dish+lunch food.
Also, bring a thermos with you, and see if you can keep a bulk pack of miso in the fridge. Stir a few spoonfuls into your thermos of water, and enjoy the high-nutrient hits all day long.
Depending on how strict you are, sandwich bread may be a difficulty. If your cook is finding it difficult to source/make vegan bread, stick to tortillas/wraps or find some vegan bread on the day off and ask to keep it set aside for you. If your cook/company is good, you won't have to pay for that out of your pocket, as bread is a basic supply. Just give them the receipt for the bread....but remember: make sure this is something that you discuss with your cook well in advance. They may find that this is a scenario that works, or they may not.
Don't expect vegan baked goodies too often. From my experience, these are the most difficult vegan menu items to prepare consistently.
For dinner, bulk up on those high-power grains like RedBaron mentioned. In my experience, i've found amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, etc. to be available all over BC, even in the far north, so these should be accessable to your cook.
Marinated, grilled tofu is easy, even for 1 person in camp, but there's no reason you should have to eat tofu every night all summer. If you find this is the case, then try requesting some other easy alternatives such as handfuls of toasted nuts sauteed with the grains, or bean-nut veggie patties or falafels.
Good luck!
For the record, i've had a number of camps where vegetarians or vegans have totally highballed everybody else. Know your body, your health, and then take care of yourself, just like everyone else.
Wow. I had no idea that there was that many vegan planters out there. I wonder how many vegans in my camp were vegetarians for the summer.
I agree with Jess completely in that if you partner with the cook, rather then making it their problem it could definately be done. Even something as simple as giving them an idea of what you eat normally and bringing along some of your fave recipes would be a huge advantage. I personally would have no idea where to start cooking for a vegan planter and what products to buy, but I would certainly be willing to learn. That being said, I am confident that there is many a treeplanting cook out there whose knowledge in this area would certainly exceed mine.
How do companies in general cope with special dietary requests out there?
How do camp cooks cope with vegans, you mean aside from lard in the tofu pie? (Just kidding.)
Seriously, though, for the first time this season I will have at least two vegans in my camp. I'm not particularly stressed about the dinners, but what do vegans like to eat for breakfast (aside from tofu scrambles and bean dishes)? And would anyone happen to have some good vegan baking recipes or tricks for substitutions?
Hashbrowns with herbs/veggies can be great, also if you have the time vegan pancakes (or better yet banana pancakes) are quite easy and good. Also, baked apple dishes can make a yummy vegan breakfast.
i'm curious about vegan breakfast requests as well.
As for baking tricks, this last summer about 75% of all my my baking (lunch treats and dessert) were vegan. i was working solo, and came to the conclusion that there was no reason that everybody in the camp couldn't eat vegan baking, as i didn't have the time to do two sets of baking. Unless the camp was seriously holding out on me, and i don't think they were, not many people ever guessed that the baking was vegan. The two things i relied on daily? Soy milk and Ener-G egg replacer. Cookies, breads, cakes, ANYTHING pretty much worked with this combo replacing dairy and eggs....well, everything but puff pastry. i still haven't figured out a vegan option for that one
Also, play around with ways of 'binding' your baked goods together. Melting/boiling various kinds of sugars, grinding down dried fruit, or thickening with nut butters can work wonders, and give a lot of texture variety. One of my favorite lunch treats to make up is a type of chewy energy bar: Basically, you take any kind of dried fruit combination (figs+dates+raisins or dried apples/apricots/pears or anything) and you mash them up in a food processor or blender. It will be a super sticky mix. Then you add in any other sticky stuff: peanut or other nut butter or honey or melted chocolate or caramel or anything. Then you add in drier stuff: chocolate or vanilla protein powder, seeds or nuts, oats or other rolled grains, greens powder, etc. Mix them all together...the mix will be super stiff. Knead it for a while, and shape in to balls. The variations are pretty much endless.
Last hint: find one good chocolate cake or brownie recipe ( i love the ones in the ReBar cookbook), and a few amazing fillings/frostings ( i like to use coconut milk or liqueurs for the liquid in the frostings). Layer the cake, rub a liqueur like amaretto or kahlua into it, fill it, frost it, and serve it with fresh fruit like mangoes or peaches. No vegan or non-vegan of mine in camp EVER complained about that dessert!
thanks for the advice! But some of your suggestions sound (eep!) a little expensive for my budget (13$/day) like doing all the baking with soy milk or egg replacers. I do order some dried fruit, but it's usually more of a treat, so I need to become better at finding ways to do things cheaper but still make quality food (which is kind of like a bush cooking mantra!). I've found that bananas work really well (1/2 banana per egg) but then everything tastes like bananas. There's a few good websites on substitutions (http://www.veganwoolf.com) where they recommend things like 1 T of flour and 1 T of water for one egg, or 1/4 cup apple sauce, or 2 T cornstarch...none of which I've tried yet, but I can update you on my kitchen experimentation if and when I get around to it.
The chocolate cake/ brownie recipe is a really good idea-there's much to be done there, especially with extracts and the like (chocolate mint cake, chocolate almond cake) which would keep in budget. Plus people love chocolate. I've also found a moosewood recipe for a banana and coconut milk "tofu" cheesecake that sounds awesome (got to try that one out before I start).
Since I like to make a variety of lunch treats, I was thinking about making at least one vegan treat each day, like granola or power bars (I'll totally give your power bar suggestions a try, peanut-butter based experimentations are usually pretty successful, in that they invariably taste like peanut butter, which is good), for the whole camp and then just doing 'regular' stuff for the rest.
Do you think it is reasonable to save a vegan desert from the night before and serve it as a lunch treat, or to make one vegan lunch treat per day when the camp gets a choice of 2 or 3 treats. Or, if I do something really fancy and time consuming like a tofu cheesecake, and there's still three portions left, would it be reasonable to serve it as dessert two nights in a row? I don't want to make enemies (plus I'm sure I'll like these people...) and don't want anyone to feel resentful, but as it is I will probably make a special lunch spread and entree for these two or three, so I figured if I tried to make quality stuff (though not necessarily with as much choice as the whole camp gets) people would be happy and my life would be oh-so-much easier.
I'm sure once I meet these people we'll get everything sorted out in some kind of mutually satisfying equilibrium, but you seem to have lots to good advice, so I was wondering what you would do!
So, how long have you been cooking in the bush? Still like the job? Last season was my first and i absolutely loved it!
Take care, and thanks again for the advice. And if you've got a sec, let me know what you think.
Hey 'Bushcook'!
It's great to see your enthusiasm! Vegan cooking/baking can seem daunting sometimes if you aren't used to it, but really, it's a great way to be super creative and learn a lot of techniques that benefit your entire cooking repertoire!
Ahhhhhh, budgets. Yes, the constant challenge to cut costs and still put out great food is always going to be there. However, as far as the vegan baking (or any other cooking) goes, i actually find it to be more cost effective. Think about it: pricey menu items always seem to tend towards meat, cheese, butter, eggs, etc. I'm also used to running on an approx. $13/day budget, and while this last year was the first year i didn't make my budget, i don't think that accommodating vegan baking was the reason for it.
The Ener-G egg replacer that i use costs approximately $7 for a box, and that box will usually last me about 1 1/2 shifts - - for almost ALL my baking for a camp of about 30 people. Compare that to about 3-4 flats of eggs, which runs approx $10-12 at the Kelowna Costco, if my memory serves me correctly. (However, my brain IS a little sketchy with numbers....i may check and adjust these). At any rate, i've found that using the egg replacer is at very least cost comparable, if not significantly cheaper. Most Save-On Foods carry the Ener-G, and i've found it at Superstores as well, so it's not that hard to source.
I haven't tried the Moosewood 'Cheesecake'....perhaps that will be a little food adventure i should try in the next couple of weeks!
As for the power bars - yes, they make very good peanut-buttery snacks. BUT, the thing i like about them the most is that i can make them without any peanut butter at all, as i find that a peanut-y flavor tends to get old after a while. My two my favorite combos are dark chocolate/date/fig and vanilla (protein powder)/coconut/apricot. The latter DOES get a little pricey, but is a nice treat when dried apricots go on sale (and adding dried apples helps keep the cost down, too).
If you want to serve a good vegan dessert two nights in a row, or do a dessert/lunch treat combo, i'd just recommend chatting about it with your vegan planter. I've had good experiences doing that in the past, but i don't tend to make it a habit. Most of the time, if the dessert can't be vegan for whatever reason, i do a modified version of the same thing (ie - soy custard and fruit on a graham crust instead of cheesecake....sorbet instead of ice cream...phyllo pastry instead of puff pastry..). And for lunch spreads, again, there's no reason why the whole camp can't have vegan (and cost-efficient!) lunch spread options: ie. - spinach+dried basil pesto (minus parm cheese), black olive tapenade, tofu+walnut+roasted tomato pate, etc. Then, nobody is resentful because everybody has delicious options!
Just got a leave-of-absence from my 'career' job to go back for Year Nine!! (So, yah....i still kinda sorta like this crazy job!)
jess
RedBaron wrote:
PS I highballed the camp/company for a number of years on a vegan diet, planted 5700 trees in one day on a vegan diet. Bottom line a vegan diet will have no negative effect on your planting and for me defiantly gives me less friction and more energy.
You might be able to hack it Red Baron, but you could probably 'ball on any diet. Maybe you are a robot? I've seen quite a few vegans/vegetarians rediscover their omnivore roots while planting because they were craving those greasy proteins that are so abundant in the flesh of dead animals.
This has not been mentioned yet this year, but I have to wonder if dietary choices and restrictions may be affected this year due to supply chain issues. It is already pretty much a given that staff will not have free rein through the local grocery stores and may simply not have access to all the specific items they have used in the past. Even the most well-meaning and versatile chef may simply be restricted in what they are able to offer. I think we all know that basic supply chains are fairly skewed toward a meat-veg-grain-dairy diet, and that accommodation for properly balanced veg-vegan-GF etc has often relied upon the expert knowledge and ingenuity of your cooks. This could portend a challenge ahead for some folks. Clearly it would be great to be able to map out that food-chain in advance, but with so much planning just to get the season off the ground, this could be tricky.
We've been looking into this. So far, the basic answer that we have from suppliers is that there will be lots of "food" available. In fact, for companies that service mostly restaurants and institutional customers (GFS, Sysco, etc.) the tree planters are suddenly a lot more important, since they've lost so much of their client base. My feeling though is that until the coronavirus passes, we'll be more limited in selection, especially of the fancy little things. I hope that wholesalers and cash&carry places won't be too badly affected, but that remains to be seen. We're assuming that shopping at traditional style grocery stores is pretty much a no-go this year. Nobody in a grocery store, customer or staff, is going to want to see someone coming in to load up several carts.
