Eating out the entire time?

2009 was my first Bonnaroo and I actually managed to not buy any food my entire time on the farm. It it wasn't for hitting up the fast food joints on the way to and fro I would not have spent any money on food the entire trip. During the festivities, I managed to eat three solid meals a day plus I snacked alot. I never really got hungry either. I also did not have to buy any extra ice.

nolan, I agree! 2008 was my first year and we took WAY too much food. The problem was that we just didn't spend that much time at camp. To me, it wasn't worth the hike back to camp just for food... and then there are lines to get back into Centeroo. For 2009, I budgeted to I purchase all of my meals (two per day) and was MUCH happier. No worrying about ice or bringing food that just goes to waste. We brought snacks to munch on though since meals were usually pretty spaced out.

As far as cost, I think most food vendors are reasonably priced for the amount of food you get. A lot of it can even be shared. I spent $130 all weekend, and that included food, beer from vendors, and some souveniers.

We cooked breakfast every morning and we had a lot of snacks throughout the day such as crackers, peanut butter, chips.

We made brats one night and they were awesome, but other than that we ate in centeroo. It wasn't bad grabbing a $5 slice of spicy pie here and there.

I have gone twice and flown in both times so bringing meal type food is impossible. What I do is eat a big breakfast on vendor row before I go in Centeroo. Then have granola bars and such for lunch and eat a big dinner before the headliner. Then sometimes I would eat a piece of pizza or something after or during the latenights. It worked for me and I didn't give up too much money. The trick is only eat one meal in Centeroo. The food in the campgrounds is much cheaper and often better.

I brought a fair amount of food my first year and ended up bringing most of it home with me. Yes, buying from the vendors is more expensive than bringing your own food, but for me it's more about the convenience than anything else. I could walk twenty minutes back to camp, make lunch, then walk twenty minutes back to Centeroo, having missed nearly an hour of music... or I could spend $10 at one of the vendors on Shakedown St, and save a good deal of time and energy instead. Now I just incorporate about twenty bucks a day into my Roo budget for food. In the grand scheme of what the entire trip costs, it's really not that much.

However, I still keep an arsenal of snacks at camp for when I do get hungry - but nothing that requires much preparation. Potato chips, Nutrigrain bars, cookies, dried fruit, GORP, etc. As someone who doesn't eat very much meat (and no red meat), I find Kashi works great for that much needed protein boost.

I dunno. While I really enjoy the food at 'Roo I usually limit myself to one meal a day from vendors either around the campsites or from inside Centeroo. I enjoy hangin' out at my campsite a bit during the periods of time when there aren't any bands I have a particular interest in. Plus I get to go back and drink more alcohol fer cheaper.

The way to do it is bring a lot of dry foods (granola bars, chex mix, chips, dried fruit, gummies) fruit in green bags (apples, grapes etc.).

Only use grill each day to make breafast (pancakes, hash browns, fruit all in bulk)

I Never ate lunch during the day (two many bands to see and corn to eat)

Eat dinner inside centeroo. Thats 4 meals. (I have become a vegetarian since this years Roo, so i really don't know how this is going to go down next year)

And snack at camp before going to sleep. (Maybe grab a funnell cake on the way back)

This keeps Grill use to a minimum, cooler use to a minimum (only need one for drinks), and only having to buy food once a day at nightime.

indeed.

I also did Bonnaroo on a budget, this is why I opted to not buy any food while on the farm. This was my first Roo, so I brought money just in case I needed to because I didn't know what expect. My planning paid off in the end though. Instead of turkey sandwiches, uncrustables worked great, not only do they do better in a wet cooler, but they are less likely to go bad outside of a cooler. I ate one for dinner everyday by carrying it in my backpack into Centeroo. I also brought in granola bars and those Austin brand snack crackers. I ate a big breakfast when I woke up and a big lunch before I left for Centeroo and I found myself not eating a dinner until around 7-8 everynight. I know that this is not ideal for everybody, but for someone who is trying to enjoy bonnaroo on a budget, it is definitely possible. I really didn't even find it to be difficult. I plan on doing the same thing in 2010.

The best way to keep your food cooler is to put dry ice wrapped up on the bottom, on top of that put frozen bottles of water. It will stay cold and dry almost all weekend. However anything with water content may be carbonated by Saturday. With cherries this is awesome with jelly it was less so.

We brought wayyy too much food. One of my friends actually just finished off the huge box of poptarts we brought! We did make burgers and hotdogs on Saturday before heading back to centeroo for the night. We also ate a good amount of peanut butter and jelly. Brought a good amount of snacks too. Muffins, snackmix, cashews, etc. But other than that we ate in centeroo. Saturday and Sunday I had finally realized that there was a breakfast vendor in our pod and that was just amazing. Pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Great start to the day.

Oh and how can one forget the Arepas!! Those were a centeroo staple for me!

^^^ Well, these guys can probably answer a few of your questions

bonnaroo.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rides&action=display&thread=3576&page=1

I just buy food there, cheaper and less hassle. No worries about storage in the car and all that crap. $50 can feed me for the weekend and I eat more than 3 times a day

We brought way too much food and only cooked breakfast one morning. It's just too much of a hassle and there's too much music to hear. I'm probably just taking some snacks and beer this year. The food is too good to pass up in Centeroo. I ate that cajun meat trio twice. It was only $9 and would have been enough food for two people.

I over prepared in 09. I'm probably going solo this year and I'm bringing the bare minimum.