The National Food Service Management Institute was saddened to learn of the passing of Ms. Earnestine Camp on December 6, 2012. Ms. Camp was a pioneer in the development of child nutrition programs and the godmother of school feeding in the state of Arkansas, devoting her entire career and much of her retirement years to this field.
Earnestine Camp was born in Sheridan, Arkansas in 1920. She attended the University of Arkansas, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics. She earned a master’s degree in education in 1954. She taught home economics at Yellville-Summit High School in Yellville, Arkansas, from 1942 to 1951 and directed the school food service program there from 1943 to 1951. She also taught home economics in Bentonville School in Bentonville, Arkansas, from 1951 to 1952, and while there served as the food service director for 1,000 students. She joined the supervisory staff of the School Food Service section of the Arkansas Department of Education in 1953, as an area supervisor. She had responsibility for directing the training programs for food service managers, which lead to certification by the Department of Education, from 1963 to 1980. She served as Southwest Regional Director of the American School Food Service Association, as advisor to the Executive Board of the Arkansas School Food Service Association, and in numerous other positions in school food service organizations. (Photograph of Miss Camp at the Child Nutrition Symposium at NFSMI March 20-21, 2006)
Ms. Camp’s papers, as well as her oral history, are housed in the Child Nutrition Archives at the National Food Service Management Institute.
View Ms. Camp's obituary.
Earnestine Camp Collection
Earnestine Camp Oral History