Food Planning

In the pull down menu above, you can find various worksheets to help you pick menus and then create shopping lists.

Good backpacking food is:

• light weight but packs densely.
• last for days without cooling.
• requires minimal fuel to cook.
• provides calories.
• provides nutrients and fiber.
• is easy to clean up
• tastes good

Avoid:

• cans and containers.
• foods with high water content - water can be added on the trail.
• food that has to cook a long time. Stove fuel is heavy.
• respect allergies, cultural, or religious requirements. (Currently in T80: no peanuts. no cashews. no pinenuts. no pork. caution with eggs.)

How Much:

• 1.3 lbs of backpacking food per scout, per day (3 meals per day), works well. Weigh your total food and adjust with snacks.
  • Example: 5 scouts on a 3 day trip (9 meals) will need a total of 5 scouts X 3 days X 1.3 lbs per scout per day = 19.5 lbs of backpacking food.
• strive for foods which contain 125 cal/oz = 4.4 cal/gr
• A hungry scout might want ~3000 cal/day or 1.5 lbs/day = 680 grams/day.
• Here’s an example for a heavier person, hiking a long distance, with a lot of vertical feet:
• A 160 lb person has a base metabolism of approx. 2,400 cal/day.
• 10 miles hiking at 120 cal/mi is an additional 1,200 calories.
• Assume 3,000 elevation gain is another 600 calories.
• Total caloric expenditure: 4,200 cal/day ~ 1000 grams ~ 2 lbs. This is more than a scout typically needs.