- Andrew Stevens

Interview-of-the-day: Sam Daily

       Sam Daily, a junior leader for AGLP, is also the leader for the food committee.  Their job is to buy the food for the participants, as well as help cook if needed.  But is that all they do?  From what I got from Sam, I say no.
         Sam’s job in the committee isn’t an easy one.  She plans the menu for the trip, and she writes the grocery lists for shopping.  She also supervises and helps with cooking each meal.  The job of the participants in the committee is to buy the food at each place we go.  They separate into groups, and each group only buys food for their assigned meal.  There is a group for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and meat.  There is no budget, Sam says, but Ishtar supervises their spending.
         She didn’t get the job immediately, though.  She had to apply for it last year.  Danna Lowell, the former leader, trained her last year for this trip.  Sam applied because she loves to cook.
         Most of the things the food committee does are done at home.  Sam has to plan the meals according to the schedule before we take off for the summer. Why?  Sam says because you “can’t have frozen pizza at a place [Grizzly Bear Campgrounds] like this.”  When she plans each meal, she tries to make it a little balanced, like having a salad for dinner sometimes.  Before Alaska, the participants meet with Sam to learn what their group is for buying food.
         Not everything is simple in the food committee, however.  Sam has to make sure every meal runs smoothly, and that can be hard with complex meals, she said. Sometimes the food may go bad, or something may get into the food.  Sometimes there is a nice reprieve, however.  Ishtar may order pizza for lunch, and that makes Sam’s job easier.