Vegan, halal or food allergies in camp: what to ask before you arrive

On a 14-day hitch you eat most of your meals from one kitchen you can’t leave. If your diet is more than “I’ll eat anything”, it is worth sorting out before the flight, not at the serving line on day one. This is what to ask, who to ask, and what to bring as backup.

This is general information, not medical advice. For a medical allergy, your doctor decides what is safe, not a camp menu and not this page.

Ask before you go, and put it in writing

Camp kitchens are run by a catering company under contract to the camp or the employer, and at many camps dietary requests go through camp services or the catering company, not through your supervisor. Ask your employer’s onboarding contact who handles dietary requests at your specific camp. Then send the request in writing (email or text), so there is a record, and ask for a reply.

Questions worth asking:

• Can the kitchen meet a vegan, vegetarian or halal diet, and how? Which meals, and every day or only some?
• Who do I talk to when I arrive, and can I meet the kitchen lead?
• For allergies: how does the kitchen separate allergen foods, and how are dishes labelled?
• Is the ingredient list for a dish available if I ask on the spot?
• Is there a fridge or microwave in the rooms or a common area if I bring some of my own food?

Do not assume the answer from another camp applies. The same caterer can run things differently at two lodges.

What a real menu shows, and what it does not

Take the menu ESS (Eurest) published for CNRL Albian Village for the week of 2026-09-27 as an example. In the text of that week’s menu, two dinners were marked “(Vegan)”, and there were meat-free items at breakfast (a tofu scramble, braised beans, ratatouille) and in the lunchroom (a chickpea and guacamole wrap, a falafel wrap, a black bean burger). A vegetarian enchilada dish ran on the Tuesday.

That is useful, but a menu is a list of dish names. It doesn’t tell you the cooking oil, the shared grill, or what is in a sauce. The only dietary tag we saw in that menu text was “(Vegan)” on those two dishes. Nothing on it said halal or listed allergens. So treat the menu as a starting point and get the details from the kitchen. You can read the current week on our camp menu page, and if you want it on your phone’s home screen it is set up at camp-menu-app (works on camp WiFi, no app store).

Health Canada lists 11 priority food allergens: eggs, milk, mustard, peanuts, crustaceans and molluscs, fish, sesame seeds, soy, sulphites, tree nuts, and wheat and triticale (accessed 2026-09-28). Peanut butter and jam, fish, egg salad and sesame buns are all ordinary items on a camp lunchroom list, so if one of those is your allergen, talk to the kitchen before you get in the line, not during it.

Bring a backup

Even with a good answer, bring a few shelf-stable things that fit your diet for the first days: snacks, a few packs of what you like, and any supplements or medication you already use. Keep prescriptions in the original packaging, with more than you think you need. Then adjust once you know what the kitchen can actually do.

Asking early gives the kitchen time to respond.

After the meal

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FAQ

Who do I contact about a special diet before I go? Start with the onboarding or camp services contact your employer gave you, and ask who handles dietary requests at your camp. Send the request in writing.

Is halal food available at work camps? It depends on the camp and the caterer, and we did not find a published policy to point to. Ask your camp directly, in writing, which meals, and how the meat is sourced.

Should I trust the menu for allergies? No. A menu lists dish names. For a medical allergy, ask the kitchen about ingredients and how allergen foods are handled, and follow your doctor’s advice.