Evolution Of Military Rations

Food played a pivotal role in the daily lives of all persons in Vichy France during World War II. The finding and gathering of food consumed long hours of the average person’s life through ration cards and queques. The search and the worship of food was an integral part of life to all people from the general public to the Resistance Fighters. Food is a necessity of all life, for the Nazi Germans it was a tool to control the Vichy French Regime and people as the daily hunted for food and reveled in eating it.

With the onset of WWII, the United States needed a system to savor their supplies, so the government put in place the rationing system. They used ration books to get supplies like meat and sugar from grocery stores, a ration book was kind of like a coupon book, you couldn’t buy a rationed item without having a ration stamp for that item (National WWII museum).

During the war the British used a blockade which “certainly reduced the German food supply” (Ferguson 276). Since Paul was a German soldier the British blockade would have affected him and his comrades. During the war some food became harder to come by especially "bread was very scarce” (Arthur 188). Paul and the other soldiers would eat their bread to make it last longer. While out in the fields soldiers could expect rations not to come hourly or regularly so often "one could make two biscuits last for about three-quarters of the day" ( 206). Paul experiences this as he nibbles at his bread and puts it away for later to eat because he often would not know when his next rations would come. The British blockade forced the German government to “[lower] the bread ration” (Heyman 86) forcing them to have to substitute bread for other more plentiful food sources such as turnips that were mostly used as the substitutions or they would ration the bread out in small portions. The new recruits discuss their diet during training which consisted of mostly turnip based food. Remarque in an accurate way portrays the soldiers as they attempt to make their rations last

rations of the soldiers, for example “Henry Dobbins, who as a big man, carried extra

The reaction should produce heat for at least 5–8 minutes. This will allow the meal to absorb the heat and be ready to eat within 10 minutes of the diner starting the reaction. The Non-Magnesium Flameless Ration Heater TM (FRH) is targeted for use in military operational ration packs and Hot Pack/Action Pack self-heating meals. single case can provide nutritional variety, critical in crisis situations where appetite may be suppressed by stress or emotional trauma. The entrée is ready in just 10 minutes by using the self-heating unit.

The book In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan talks about the Western diet. The book includes an experiment in 1982, designed by a nutrition researcher Kerin O’Dea, to see if temporarily twisting the way Westerners eat might also change people’s health problems. And a group of Aborigines participated in the experiment. All of them were overweight and diabetic. They left the civilization and returned to the bush. Men and women only could hunted and gathered foods. They stayed on the coast and inland location for seven weeks, their diet mainly included seafood, turtle, yams, figs and bush honey. The result was positive. After seven weeks returning to the origin, all of these Aborigines had lost weight and their blood pressure dropped. In addition,

During the war, scientists worked together to create a healthy, tasteful diet for the soldiers at war. They worried about food conservation and storage and how they were going to prepare the food. They also worried about what a soldier would do for food if an emergency took place. So scientists started making a food that was small, tasteful, and did not weigh much. This was called the “D” ration. It was a chocolate bar that contained nearly 1,800 calories, weighed 4 ounces, and did not melt in high temperatures. Also, the energy bar tasted “a little better than a boiled potato” because they did not want soldiers eating them unless there was an emergency (War 8). Nutrition

Now, that was back then, now they have programs that are trying to make better ratios for soldiers. In “Feature, Feeding the Soldier,” they talk about what has been done with the rations in more modern times; “While some American soldiers in the field in Iraq and elsewhere may still complain about their Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs, they can be assured the food packets of today are a vast improvement over the much-derided combat rations -- C-rations -- of World War II, Korea and Vietnam” (“Feature, Feeding”). “Feature, Feeding the Soldier” also goes on to say “The canned mystery meat is gone, replaced now by such entrees as the zesty Mexican macaroni and cheese and seafood jambalaya” (“Feature, Feeding”). There are people out there who have tried to fix the fact that the rations were bad. Now, they are much better.

They also made mutton broth, beef tea, potato pie, and duff pudding. They even served foods that are familiar to us today like stew and even curry. The food that women cooked for men on the front line was often better quality than the food that men ate back home. Men at war consumed 4,600 calories a day. The women cookings in the canteens were told to make the food feed as many men as possible. They had tricks to make the food more bulk so the men would be more full from smaller portions. Women would dip bacon and other meats into oatmeal or flour to make it thicker and used other techniques such as putting old bread into water and baking the bread again in the oven for an hour.

And finally, I assisted with writing a portion of the post assessment write upwhich is to be submitted with the final m-NEAT assessment package. As previously mentioned Iam also attending orientation briefings for airmen and officers who are new to the base and atthis event we conduct the InBody body composition assessments, and then the dietician gives abriefing that provides a breakdown of what each item on the assessment is and what the idealvalues should be. Additionally, she discusses how to calculate how many calories you shouldconsume on a daily basis based off of your basal metabolic rate and activity level, as well as howto calculate how much water and how much protein you should be consuming daily, which isalso based off of weight and activity level.2 Another important aspect of nutrition is supplementusage. Research shows that military members are more likely to use and use multiple forms ofnutrition supplements than members of the civilian population.3 This information and availableresources to determine what supplements are safe was also provided in the orientation andnutrition

Each food item is preserve in a different way and the astronaut has a choice of what they would like to eat. Before the actual mission trip astronauts plan with their nutritionist meal options that would provide the best quality of nutrients. In the article NASA Food Systems: Past, Present and Future gives an example in Appendix A, typical meals plan that astronauts can have onboard . Also the shuttle is equipped with extra meal supplies called the Safe Haven meals that is used in cases of emergencies. Safe Haven pantry can only last until 22days

Did you know that 36 different dishes could be served at a Medieval feast? The Medieval period was one to under take in some very extraordinary things like, what they ate and how they went about their day. During the Medieval period there was certain orders of doing things, including: what you must do before a meal; the order of which the hall was set up for eating; what time/ what the lords or peasants ate for breakfast, dinner, and supper; and what they would eat for Easter, Christmas, and weddings/ big events happening in the family or the community.

One thing I enjoyed about the first chapter of, “The Edible History of Humanity,” by Tom Standage is that it provided a description of how the domestication of the three cereal grains, maize, wheat, and rice, has had an effect on both the plants in question and the human race. The act of humans “...deliberately cultivating…” (Standage 2) these grains gave them the ability to settle into permanent communities and farm for most of their food, something which had never been done before and set a precedent followed even today. In turn, the domestication of these plants for easier farming made the plants practically unable to reproduce without the aid of human farmers, “The grains are attached to a central axis known as the rachis.

Feeding the American military has been a global challenge through the ages. As long as there are wars, there will be armies, and as long as there are armies, there must be food. The need to provide sustenance to our soldiers and troops hasn’t changed since the time of the Revolutionary War. Without the efforts to bring fuel to our troops, the military output would come to a grinding halt (Ryan, 144). During World War I, trench warfare began and hot food and drinking water were delivered to troops in milk cans carried on a pole by other soldiers making it the first time hot meals were served on the front line (“Food Distribution”). Demand for food technology to protect food from gas, spoilage, and dampness resulted in the reserve ration. The special reserve ration contained smaller tins of the same foods, sealed in metal containers to be opened only in the event that no other food was available (DoD Combat Feeding).

The MRE stands for Meals, Ready-to-Eat, which was a self contained, person field ration on the lightweight packaging was bought by US (United States) military for the service members or associate to use the combat or the other type of field conditions or rules where the facilities of the organized food was not present. The MRE (Meals, Ready-to-Eat) replaced to the canned MEAL, MCI, individual person ration, Combat in the 1981. It is an intended successor for the lighter ration (LRI) development by US (United States) Military for the special and new forces and the ranger patrol item in the Vietnam. The contents included for the military mre, such as entrée (main course), Side dish,