Food Team Roles

This doc provides an overview of the various of roles for the Food Team who help plan and prepare everything food related for the Burn. It is also intended to act as a reference guide for what needs to get done by each role in a concise but comprehensive way.

The three buckets of roles for Food Team Turtles are: Food Shift Lead, Food Czar, and Reno Advance Team.

Some helpful reference docs are compiled here:

Master Planning Spreadsheet

Turtle Recipe Book

Food Training Doc

Standard Operating Procedures Guides (to come)

Food Shift Lead

The Food team prepares and serves 19 meals over the course of the Burn (from Friday dinner through to Strike Dinner on Sunday). Each meal is planned and led by 1 shift lead with the assistance of 2-3 Turtle chefs.

Food Shift Leads should plan to lead 2 or 3 meals.

Planning for a meal consists of:

Leading a shift meal consists of:

Meal choices will be coordinated during 2-3 Food team meetings in the Spring and early Summer before the Burn. We collaborate out of the Master Planning Spreadsheet.

Meetings serve to ensure meal choices are appropriate for the Camp and feasible within the constraints of the Playa. They are a helpful way to prevent any SNAFUs when we're miles from civilization :)

Food Czar

Food Czars lead a workstream, station or initiative. Food Czars do not necessarily do everything required for that division, but they are responsible for ensuring it is done.

Food Czar roles are tentative and may change in the lead up to the Burn and from year to year. Some Czar roles may be consolidated in the lead up to Burn.

Czar Role Description Turtle
Facilities and Training Czar

Final expert in all things Food Fort operations (equipment and facilities). Ensures Food Turtles are all trained on safety and SOPs.

Alejandro R
SOP and Recipes Czar

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and documentation. Ensure food fort, fridge, kitchenette, snacks is organized and develop standard operating process for how food fort and food spaces are left between shifts. Lots of Signage.

Ensures complete meal recipes (following last year’s template) are collected from shift leads, compile a recipe book with 4 copies of each recipe to bring to Playa.

Ben S

Assist: Alejandro

Operation Kitchenette Czar Defines the new Health Snacks and self-serve Turtle Kitchenette in the Dining Area. Define and roll out process for Operation Dinner Freedom.

Ben B

Assist? Adam J?

Dry Snacks Czar

Plan the dry snacks ordering list.

Organize and prepare Turtle self-serve dry snacks station.

Ensure hot snacks: frozen burritos, sandwiches, etc (figure out w Kitchenette)


Master Planning Spreadsheet Czar

Ensure spreadsheet linking and formulas work, especially ingredients.

Ensure ingredients for meals are correctly formatted and compile into a master order list for Reno Build Team.

Update supplies list based on Reno Work Week inventory and collate additional equipment and supplies required for ordering.


Operation Advance Prep Czar Defines and leads the effort to pre-prepare ingredients and meal components prior to the Burn to minimize Food Shift labor once the Burn begins. Work with ingredients and Reno Build Week team to implement ideas. Will likely require being at Reno Build Week.

Adam J?

Assist: Christophe

Procurement Czar Ensures all the ingredients, equipment and stuff that Planning scopes are ordered and loaded for entry to Playa. Requires being at Reno Build Week.
Food Fort Driving and Testing Czar Test all key components of Food Fort and ensures it arrives to Playa on time and in one piece! Requires being at Reno Build Week. Sean E?

Reno Advance Team

There are two group Turtle occasions in the Spring and Summer where a few Turtles are on the ground to audit, verify and prepare the Food Team for success on Playa: Reno Work Week and Reno Build Week.

Advance Teams have one designated lead and Turtles supporting the effort.

Reno Work Week (May 9th-11th)

Reno Work Weekend is our first opportunity to get eyes on the Food Fort, gather intel for the Food Team that plans, and perform testing and maintenance to get ahead of any issues ahead of the Burn.

Key Tasks:

Reno Build Week (August 18th-23rd)

Simultaneously to Build Week team arriving on Playa and building camp, a Food Advance Team goes to Reno to prepare the Food Fort, acquire supplies, and make any last preparation and 

On Friday some of the Reno Build Week team head to Playa along with the Food Fort to join Build Team and prepare Food Fort for all Turtles arrival Saturday.

Key tasks:


Revision #5
Created 11 April 2025 21:06:50 by Christophe Lamy
Updated 4 June 2025 18:22:53 by Christophe Lamy