The Grubmaster

Grubmaster: The term used by Troop 801 for the scout in charge of meal planning, food shopping, and meal preparation during a campout.

A Guide for the Grubmaster

Plan the menu with your patrol

As the Grubmaster, you are responsible for purchasing the food and supplies needed for the patrol’s meals during a campout. The process begins with creating a detailed meal plan, often called a "menu," for the duration of the trip, which must account for the number of scouts confirmed to attend the campout in your patrol and a balanced nutrition. After the meal plan is approved, the Grubmaster prepares a shopping list that includes all ingredients.

Get a firm count of how many patrol members are going at the trek/ campout prep meeting and find out what your budget is. Once you know the number going camping, use the menu planner and plan to buy only as much food as your patrol will need.  Buying too much food will cost your patrol extra money and is often wasteful.  Stay within your budget. 

Purchase the food and supplies

With the shopping list in hand, the Grubmaster then goes to the store to purchase items, keeping in mind the budget allocated by the patrol or troop. It's important for the Grubmaster to consider factors like portion sizes, packaging (to minimize waste), and storage needs (such as coolers for perishables) to ensure the patrol has everything required for a successful campout.

Your patrol members are going to be hungry if you don’t buy enough food. And leftover food is often wasted if you buy too much.  A Scout is Thrifty is an important Scout Law to remember.  You must keep track of which patrol members are confirmed for a campout. Knowing your budget, planning your meals, and managing your funds are a big part of being successful in this leadership task.

Save all your receipts and begin work on the Grubmaster Report

Start by printing out and starting to complete the Grubmaster Report. Place the receipts for the food and supplies you you buy in an envelope labeled with "Grubmaster Receipts", your name, the name of your patrol, the number of scouts, and the total cost of the food and supplies that you purchased.  Staple the envelope to the Buying food for the patrol is supposed to be a break-even proposition. As Grubmaster, it is your responsibility to stay within your food budget.  Spending beyond your budget must be approved by your patrol members and Trek leader.  When completed, submit the Grubmaster Report to Troop 801's Treasurer, Jeanne Schnese, in person or by email (if you can take pictures of or otherwise scan the report and the receipts) to: treasurer@troop801coronado.org

Perishable Food Safety

Food safety is critical to avoid getting sick on a trek. Proper handling, packing, and temperature control of perishable food can prevent illnesses caused by bacteria.  Bacteria that can cause foodborne illnesses multiply rapidly in what is known as the "Danger Zone", which is between 40°F and 140°F. To avoid getting sick from bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, it is important to keep perishable food out of this temperature range.

Packing and Transporting Food

Before You Leave:

Patrol leaders: if your Grubmaster will be preparing food at home prior to the campout, be sure to take this effort in consideration when planning the duty roster for the trek.

At Camp:

Safe Food Handling at Camp

Perishable Food Examples and How to Pack Them

Grubmaster Parent's Role

If your scout volunteered or was chosen to be Grubmaster for a trek then read on! Parental advice, input, and transportation are important to a Grubmaster’s success.  The Grubmaster is the scout, not you.  The Grubmaster is expected to plan and purchase a patrol's food and supplies for a trek, maintain and prepare these these during a trek. These are important skills that all scouts need to master for rank advancement. This means that the Grubmaster must go to the store to purchase the items, not just the scout's parent(s).  Parental advice about nutrition and price comparison at the store is important. 

Let your Scout do the shopping.  While it’s okay to give your Scout a ride to the store (and a little free advice), the Scout needs to choose the food and make the decisions.

Let your Scout follow the patrol’s plan.  The pre-planning trek meeting is where the patrol is supposed to develop a menu and shopping list for your scout to use.  Our menu planner worksheet helps facilitate the planning process. But remove Sunny D or similar drinks from the shopping cart if added.

Make sure your Scout knows how many people to shop for, and verify! Again, our menu planner worksheet should list a firm head-count for the patrol members attending the outing. Help your scout verify if the food is sufficient for the number of scouts that this is being purchased for.

Shop several days in advance of the trek. Part of the logic behind the five-day-out policy is that it gives you several weeknights on which to shop.  You should not have to shop the day of the campout.

On the day of departure, you may pack the perishable items in a cooler (your scout may borrow a cooler if needed.)  Dry goods are best packed in a tote or box to avoid items getting damaged during transport to the camp site. See Grubmaster's guide above.

Avoid Loose Ice. Loose ice ends up making the cooler a soggy mess by the end of the weekend. A frozen gallon water jug works great- fill ¾ full of fresh, clean water and freeze it.  For best results start the freezing process several days prior to the campout.  During really hot months, multiple frozen jugs may be necessary.

Plan to spend $18 per scout per 3 meal day. For longer or shorter trips, you will be provided a budget adjustment.

Control costs. A Scout is thrifty. Your Scout can do this by purchasing store brands, avoiding individually-packaged items, and picking raw ingredients over prepared foods. This is a great teachable moment. Show them the differences in cost by comparing similar products based on brands and packaging.

Make sure your Scout turns in a Grubmaster Report with receipts after the Trek. The sooner we get your your receipts, the sooner we can reimburse you and close out the event budget.

Don’t worry.  Since the BSA was founded in 1910, there have been no recorded cases of scouts starving to death on a weekend campout.

Helpful Hints:

At-home preparation will make cooking at camp easier and quicker for your Scout.

Scrambled eggs? Scramble the raw eggs at home and place them in a tightly sealed container.

Diced cooked meats and veggies (chicken, carrots, celery)?  Wash and dice at home and put in separate zip bags.

Bacon, ground burger or sausage?  Buy pre-cooked or pre-cook at home. Works great and eliminates grease to make clean-up easier.