MREs (“meals ready to eat”) are made for soldiers on the field, in situations where it’s not practical for cooking supplies to be hauled around. One bag has everything needed for an individual meal, even a self-heating bag—though a little water needs to be added for those to work. The main bag itself is waterproof, the food has no expiration date, and as far as plastic bags go, it is nearly indestructible.
This video below is not mine, but the “menu” shown is similar to the one I had: spaghetti with meat sauce, cinnamon roll biscuit (basically a Pop Tart), a plain bread biscuit (the size of a Pop Tart), peanut butter, strawberry jelly, dried candied cranberries, hot chocolate, lemonade, salt, plus a plastic spoon and other utensil-type stuff.
I made it in the morning and ate most of it, except for the hot chocolate and the lemonade. My son had a few bites of everything, but not much. This was a 1250 calorie meal, so I couldn’t finish all of it in one sitting; most normal people couldn’t without a struggle. I felt fine for most of the day afterward, but nearing night I started to get a severe headache and nausea. Medication didn’t help much. Throughout the night the sickness came and went but there was always a persistent feeling of unease.
I’m not saying it was definitely the MRE, but it definitely was the MRE. Most of the macronutrients came in the form of simple carbohydrates and a lot of sugar, two things I rarely eat, not to mention a good deal of preservatives. It makes sense: soldiers in the field are basically moving around all day, often carrying heavy loads, hefting around one thing or another. They will basically burn everything off. The food itself was surprisingly appetizing for what it was, and I think much of that is non-practical: soldiers, possibly in a high-stress environment, who have a decent (partially) hot meal to look forward to is good for morale, generating camaraderie. An MRE might be the only pleasurable thing they encounter for weeks on end.
But the sickness I felt, I am sure, was a crash from ingesting way too much sugar and carbs in too short a timeframe. If I were looking for something in the way of emergency food I can store long term, I’d have to look elsewhere.
11 Comments
As someone who has an aversion to spaghetti in general, I think I’ll pass based on your review. 😉
I don’t do pasta either, but as far as insta-pasta goes, it wasn’t bad.
Okay, no more details 🙂
Thank you … nobody likes the collywobbles!
Thanks for teaching me a new word.
I also found out what “woolgathering” means. Another great word.
And here I was imagining pre-industrial economic activity!
Oh, the tales I could tell, but they all come from long ago in the sad and primitive history of the MRE. And before that I ate plenty of C Rations. Just about anybody my age with military experience could tell you their own version of the stories. It’s good enough to survive on and if you spend time out in the field (maneuvers, training, etc.), you come to appreciate the efforts they’ve put into it in more recent decades. Yes, you do burn it off out in the boonies, and it’s better than nothing.
I was going to say, the R&D (especially testing) that go into this stuff must be pretty extensive. Like a lot of military/government tech, it has application for us civvies.
The other day I looked up civil engineering history for a bit. Turns out it’s nearly as old as military engineering; basically an offshoot. “Engineering” was originally a military-only term to describe folks that worked on siege engines, etc., and it’s the oldest form of engineering. “Civil” engineering was used to distinguish engineering used for civilian purposes. Interesting.
For some reason, we used to have a bunch of MREs. I think they were on clearance at the military surplus. When the kids were little, they liked the little bottles of tobacco and the like. The food was barely passable. I liked the freeze dried fruit.
*Tabasco
The MRE I downed I got from Amazon. There was a disclaimer on the front that said it wasn’t for resale. Heh. I showed them!
I’ll have to check the surplus store near work has any for sale, out of curiosity.
We agree on the freeze-dried fruit, Jill. I used to trade for it when it wasn’t included in my meals. It has always been one of the best items.