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What Soldiers Eat, By Country

nytimes.com

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Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#21

Post by bonzoesc »

sliverstorm wrote: post #16
silentbicycle wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have two giant jars (910 g/2 lb each!) of Vegemite, one of which is approaching 2/3 empty. It's lovely stuff, though I can understand people hating it - it's concentrated and has an intense flavor, and people who don't know better probably use waaay too much. It tastes kind of like yeasty soy sauce that has been boiled down to a salty, thick black spread (or very dark, mushroomy miso). It's great scratched on butte…

> I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups But can vegetarians eat bacteria? They are animals too.

They're not. We're closer to plants than we are to bacteria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-domain_system

Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#23

Post by elblanco »

silentbicycle wrote: post #20
sliverstorm wrote: post #18

I noticed that a lot of this food is tinged with red or orange- which seems to be because it's high in protein. That got me to thinking- it must be difficult to be a vegetarian or a vegan in the army. Which also got me to thinking- should you have the right to insist on vegetarian/vegan food? Not only is it more expensive and more of a problem to provide, but you are a tool of the army, and you probably do your job f…

How are vegetarian protein sources more expensive? Many are quite cheap (if sometimes bland). Most beans keep well and are easy to ship and prepare in bulk, which certainly suits the mess hall. I don't see how it'd be a huge logistics issue (compared to shipping/handling chicken, for example). I've never been in the military, but I've worked in a deli, and handling chicken sucks. Also, the whole vegetarian "protein d…

It's more a problem of people just not eating stuff that's been slogged halfway across the planet and deposited into an active combat zone. So they try to supply menu items that'll get eaten.

That being said, there's usually a vegetarian meal in every box of MREs.

Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#24

Post by elblanco »

silentbicycle wrote: post #7
bootload wrote: post #2

the accompanying article is much better, "A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder" ~ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/weekinreview/05gilbertson.... The bit that caught my eye, "Australians get a dark-brown spreadable yeast-paste treat called Vegemite, for example" . I have a picture of the item being described here ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/4961948487/ which came from a PR1M (Patrol Ration One Man)…

I have two giant jars (910 g/2 lb each!) of Vegemite, one of which is approaching 2/3 empty. It's lovely stuff, though I can understand people hating it - it's concentrated and has an intense flavor, and people who don't know better probably use waaay too much. It tastes kind of like yeasty soy sauce that has been boiled down to a salty, thick black spread (or very dark, mushroomy miso). It's great scratched on butte…

I like Vegemite better myself. It's less intense of a flavor.

Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#25

Post by silentbicycle »

elblanco wrote: post #24
silentbicycle wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have two giant jars (910 g/2 lb each!) of Vegemite, one of which is approaching 2/3 empty. It's lovely stuff, though I can understand people hating it - it's concentrated and has an intense flavor, and people who don't know better probably use waaay too much. It tastes kind of like yeasty soy sauce that has been boiled down to a salty, thick black spread (or very dark, mushroomy miso). It's great scratched on butte…

I like Vegemite better myself. It's less intense of a flavor.

Could you describe the difference a little more? I'm really curious, but when I've seen Marmite here in the states, it's always been so ludicrously overpriced (for a little jar) that I've skipped it.

Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#26

Post by elblanco »

sliverstorm wrote: post #16
silentbicycle wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have two giant jars (910 g/2 lb each!) of Vegemite, one of which is approaching 2/3 empty. It's lovely stuff, though I can understand people hating it - it's concentrated and has an intense flavor, and people who don't know better probably use waaay too much. It tastes kind of like yeasty soy sauce that has been boiled down to a salty, thick black spread (or very dark, mushroomy miso). It's great scratched on butte…

> I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups But can vegetarians eat bacteria? They are animals too.

Some vegans try not to eat bacteria. It's usually not a problem for vegetarians.

Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#27

Post by shadowspar »

elblanco wrote: post #3

I've spent a fair bit of time on an MRE "diet". I can say from first hand experience that MREs, with their water activated heating pouch (so you can get a hot meal and some hot coffee) are a miracle of modern science. Some of them aren't so good (the bbq pork ribs in the article kinda suck), but some of them are outright amazing. I'd eat the Spicy Penne Pasta any day of the week over most modern frozen dinners. (And…

Same with the Canadian Swiss Steak IMP shown -- it's one of the least popular meals in the rotation, though it doesn't hold a candle to the universally reviled Ham Omelet (affectionately nicknamed the "Human Lung" and now thankfully long gone). The Macaroni & Cheese, however, is better than any such that ever came off a store shelf and makes a fantastic hearty breakfast (if you can imagine).

We were always told that you were supposed to be supplemented with fresh fruit & veg every so often to deal with the lack of fiber, but you can guess how often that happened in the field.

Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#28

Post by sliverstorm »

bonzoesc wrote: post #21
sliverstorm wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups But can vegetarians eat bacteria? They are animals too.

They're not. We're closer to plants than we are to bacteria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-domain_system

I doubt science matters to most veg's I've known.

Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#29

Post by silentbicycle »

elblanco wrote: post #26
sliverstorm wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups But can vegetarians eat bacteria? They are animals too.

Some vegans try not to eat bacteria. It's usually not a problem for vegetarians.

You're probably thinking of Jains, not vegans.

Re: What Soldiers Eat, By Country

#30

Post by Shooter »

sliverstorm wrote: post #18

I noticed that a lot of this food is tinged with red or orange- which seems to be because it's high in protein. That got me to thinking- it must be difficult to be a vegetarian or a vegan in the army. Which also got me to thinking- should you have the right to insist on vegetarian/vegan food? Not only is it more expensive and more of a problem to provide, but you are a tool of the army, and you probably do your job f…

"I noticed that a lot of this food is tinged with red or orange..."

This is kind of a sick comment, but I had to share since you reminded me about it with your observation:

I worked as a consultant for AmeriQual Foods for a little while...they're one of the main suppliers of MREs to the DOD. While I was there, I saw a dude accidentally cut most of his thumb off and bleed into a vat of food. A few of the workers SWORE that they still packaged the food and shipped it out...although, based on my experience with the company, I find that very hard to believe. It was probably just grim factory humor.

One of my best friends also worked at a company that supplied temp workers to AmeriQual. Not too long after 9/11, they had a scare because terrorists were supposedly trying to infiltrate their temp workforce (allegedly after finding the corporate address on MRE packaging that was improperly discarded.) I don't think anything ever came of it, but my friend was going crazy because of all the extra paperwork.

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