Healthy Tips for Summer Picnics: Celebrate Summer With a Picnic

Summer is a wonderful time to enjoy the sun, surf and sand. Celebrating summer with a picnic is even better. Ensuring your picnic is a happy and healthy one is important.

Consider the following healthy tips for summer picnics.

Know your picnic destination. Plan your picnic based upon your proposed travel destination. Will you be fishing, driving in the mountains and wilderness country or heading for the beach? There are endless, beautiful places, but choose your picnic location carefully, remembering a healthy environment is important.  

There are many different ways to have a picnic. Choose one that works for you and your family. A location where you can leave everything in the car until you put it on a picnic table, may be easier for you than a picnic where you are hiking and carrying everything for miles. It does not matter where you picnic, but make certain your picnic destination will be a clean and healthy place to eat. Hopefully, you and your family will enjoy being at that location for a pre-determined length of time.

Talk to others who has been there previously. You may have to use your own judgment. Ideally, you want a quiet, peaceful area that will not present health concerns for yourself or your family. Is the area swampy and likely to have mosquitoes or black flies? Is there clean sand on the beach? Is the water in the area fresh or is it likely to be contaminated? Is the location close to a freeway or a highway that will be noisy? Will it be overcrowded? Is it safe for your pets? Remember these present health hazards.

Obtain tourist guidelines, if possible. Brochures may be available for the use of picnic facilities in parks, tourist areas or on beaches. Are there fire restrictions? Watch for directives about the proper use of barbecues, fire pits or campfires. For families with small children, there may be safe playground areas. Parks may have picnic tables or tents. Ask about washroom facilities, showers and change rooms, wherever you plan to picnic. Find out if there will be fresh, running water. Do you have to bring your own water? Ideally, anyone heading out on a picnic should take sufficient clean, fresh drinking water for everyone.

Check for weather alerts before leaving for your picnic. Prepare appropriately for the weather. If it is going to be extremely hot and humid, how you prepare for your picnic will be different, than if it is going to be cold. Possible stormy weather with anticipated high winds, heavy rain, thunder and lightning, can lead to a sudden, picnic disasters. Extremely hot and humid weather raises concerns about the danger of sunburn, heat stroke and sunburn. Be ready for whatever and dress accordingly. Pack suntan lotion or sunscreen. Make certain that there are umbrellas and sun hats for everyone, if there is no shade in the picnic area.

Pack your picnic lunch carefully. Purchase only fruit and vegetables that are fresh. They should be blemish free, as in the heat, even fresh food will go bad quickly. Wash them with clean water and wrap them carefully in paper towels to prevent travel damage. Keep fruit and vegetable items separate, preferably in plastic containers with lids. Place them in a clean cooler with ice. They may freeze, so how you pack them is important. You will not enjoy eating fruit like pears or tomatoes that are frozen in the cooler. They will spoil quickly once frozen.

Purchase only fresh cold cuts, chicken, meat or fish. Check the dates on prepackaged meat containers to ascertain they are not expired. Place them in ice in clean, individual plastic containers with tight lids. Leave fresh meat on ice in the cooler, until you are ready to put it on the barbecue. If it must be thawed, do not place it in direct sunlight. When ready to barbecue, use clean, barbecue utensils. Make certain the barbecue is hot. Cook your meat thoroughly. If you take your own barbecue, make certain it has been cleaned, properly ahead of time. Do not assume a park will have an outlet for an electric barbecue. Leave nothing to chance. When you use the barbecue, cover the rack with tin foil. If you are using a public barbecue, make certain that you use tin foil on the grill.

Wrap sandwiches in wax paper or plastic-wrap, individually. Put them in sandwich bags or sandwich-size plastic containers. Keep different kinds of sandwiches and unopened, sandwich containers separate. Label your sandwiches so you know which ones to consume first, like chicken and turkey. Tomato sandwiches can become overly moist, while other kinds of sandwiches can become too dry. Lettuce may freeze when sandwiches are stored too close to ice in a cooler. Buns, crackers, cookies, chips and pretzels, should stay in their packaging, until you are ready to use them. Once packages have been opened, baggies work well or place the leftovers in plastic containers with lids.

Milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream or other dairy products, should be fresh at the time of purchase. Pack them in a cooler with ice. Whipped cream, milk and cream may turn sour quickly. Ice cream products will melt immediately, in the heat. Mayonnaise should be in a cooler. Be careful with egg products. Purchasing prepackaged cheese for children is a good idea or cut cheese into small pieces and put it into plastic containers. This is preferable to cutting cheese that is warm and soft. Place chocolate in a cooler, as it will melt.

Pack glass containers carefully, so that there is no breakage. This includes bottles of juice, wine, wine, pickles, olives, relish and ketchup. Use a cooler, but be aware that freezing can cause glass to break. Wrap glass containers in t-towels.

To avoid cross-infection, encourage everyone to use disposable cups, glasses, plates, cutlery and serviettes. Dispose of them properly in garbage bags, as soon as possible after eating, to avoid attracting flies or ants.

Insist everyone washes his or her hands with hand soap, prior to eating or use a hand sanitizer. It is also a good idea to wash your hands after eating and important for children with sticky fingers. Anyone handling food, including the one doing the barbecuing, should wash his or her hands frequently.

Pack a plastic tablecloth or two, as you do not know the picnic table you will be using. Pack a blanket or several, large beach towels, in case there is no picnic table. You may have to sit on the ground, but sitting on the grass or on a rock can be fun!

Take a first-aid kit in case of insect bites or burns, as well as cuts or scrapes. Check it carefully and make certain it is easily accessible. Pack iodine for cuts and an antihistamine for anyone with allergies. Avoid taking foods someone is allergic to, like peanut butter or strawberries. Include a medication for diarrhea, fever and travel sickness.

If you carry a picnic lunch in a backpack, make certain the containers do not leak. Take prepackaged snack foods like nuts, raisins and snack bars instead of soft foods or things that will melt. Avoid over-packing, as it will be heavy to carry.

Make certain that everyone stays hydrated on your picnic. Pack a thermos of tea or coffee, as a stimulant. 

Pack extra cans of juice, pop or other kinds of beverages in a cooler with ice. Avoid excess alcoholic beverages.

Staying healthy is your concern, as well as the mutual concern of everyone else on a picnic. To prevent the spread of infection, do not encourage anyone who has the flu, bad colds or diarrhea to attend your picnic. If necessary, consider postponing it.  

Plan the day’s activities well ahead of time. It is a lot of work to prepare for a picnic, particularly a large one, but with many hands, it can be fun, too. Remember that picnics are supposed to be fun, so planning well ahead of time is important. Everyone should have fun and come back home feeling refreshed and still be healthy.