A great week at Camp Pizza

By Breanne Bartok

After overhearing debates about whether or not the spilled water was exhibiting surface tension, navigating demands that five to thirty percent of farm stand profits go to the campers, and watching the campers delegate tasks on their own to create an assembly line of dishwashing, I was reminded that we were certainly working with an older group this week!  Camp Pizza is for ages 7-12, and we go a little further in depth with our activities than we do in Farm Camp. 

This reminder was made even clearer on Thursday, our last day of camp. In making the pizza dough, we realized we only had half the amount of yeast the recipe required. We halved as many other ingredients as possible, which led to a quick lesson on fractions, multiplication, and division. This continued when one grownup purchased 1.25 pounds of beans, but the campers had only set prices per one pound. I refused to pull out a calculator, instead giving a teasing smile and insisting they could do the math. It was worth it when one of the boys realized with a wide smile (and a great business voice!) what the final price should be. 

Yet the campers did far more than brush up on their mathematical skills this week at Camp Pizza. Wednesday was our field trip day, and though the walk from the WWU Outback Farm to the Fairhaven Farmers’ Market was long (with protests of “my feet-wrists are tired!”), it was thrilling to see their enthusiasm as they watched Pizza’zza demonstrate making a pizza and Drizzle concoct blends of aromatic herbs and oils. We familiarized ourselves with pricing of goods at the farmers market and even got to interview some of the farmers there! 

From learning about whole vs. processed foods together to identifying (and actually remembering) scores of plants, Camp Pizza was much more than making pizza – though that was certainly a fun component, to be sure! 

*We’d like to thank Pizza’zza and Drizzle for taking time to show us how pizza and special dressings are made. We’d also like to thank Terra Verde and Joe’s Gardens for providing produce for us to sell at our Farm Stand on Thursday. Finally, a big thank you to Goat Mountain Pizza for firing our pizzas on Thursday and providing lunch for our grownups!*