Feed your crew
Plan, shop, cook, serve, and clean up a meal for six.
Skill 2.3 · About 90 minutes to begin
Feeding people is a practical act of care. This challenge combines a budget, a timeline, a safe workspace, and a team that leaves the kitchen ready for the next meal.
Before you begin
Bring along
- Personal supplies for the task
- A simple written plan
Support & boundaries
An adult approves the task and supervises heat, sharp tools, and equipment. Follow the exact equipment instructions. Stop if the task exceeds your training or permission.
01 / Learn
Understand the skill
- Ask privately about allergies and dietary needs before choosing the menu.
- Keep raw ingredients and their utensils separate from food that is ready to eat.
- Food safety includes clean hands, appropriate cooking temperatures, and prompt chilling; use the linked official chart for the food you choose.
- A simple meal done well is better than a complicated meal nobody has time to finish.
Explore the idea
The whole meal is the project
Confirm people and dietary needs, choose quantities, set a budget, and make a shopping and timing plan.
02 / Practice
Try it, step by step
- 1
Choose a simple menu with your adult supervisor, such as beans, rice, vegetables, and fruit. Confirm six portions and all dietary needs.
- 2
Check supplies already available. Write ingredient quantities, estimated prices, and a spending limit; include shared basics such as oil.
- 3
Shop from the list and compare total prices for the amounts you need. Keep the receipt and refrigerate perishables promptly.
- 4
Write a backwards timeline from serving time. Assign prep, cooking, setting the table, and cleanup, with adult supervision for heat and knives.
- 5
Wash hands with soap and water. Prepare a stable workspace and follow the recipe and official safe-temperature guidance for each ingredient.
- 6
Serve everyone, cool and store leftovers safely, wash and put away equipment, and compare the actual cost with the plan.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Remove the visible pieces from their serving.
- Treating a successful practice attempt as permission to skip the supervision or checks for a real task.
Your call
You discover a crew member cannot eat a planned ingredient. What next?
03 / Demonstrate
Show what you can do
Use these prompts with a mentor. This practice checklist resets when you leave; record your overall stage below in the signed-in manual.
0 of 4 reviewed together
Mentor notes & sources
Help someone learn
- Demonstrate one unfamiliar task, then let the learner do it with appropriate supervision.
- Ask the crew what they would change about portions, timing, cost, and cleanup.
Start together, then let the learner take responsibility at an appropriate level. Offer a shorter task, a different role, or more practice time when useful. Review the demonstration criteria together; advanced practice never removes supervision requirements.
Reference shelf
Original program lessons informed by these references. Equipment manuals, current local rules, and qualified instruction govern technical practice.
- FoodSafety.gov: food safety steps ↗
Food handling and hygiene
- National Park Service: cooking in camp ↗
Camp cooking and storage
Edition updated 2026-09-28. Program learning material; not a professional qualification.
04 / Apply · In Action
Dinner for six
With an adult, plan and serve a meal for six within an agreed budget. Include shopping, safe preparation, serving, and cleanup.
What success looks like
Bring the menu, quantities, receipt total, and timeline to a short debrief. Ask the crew whether the meal met their needs.
Talk it through
What would you change about cost, portions, timing, or cleanup?
05 / Teach · Take it further
Teach a newer cook one task, then let them lead it next time.