
What Soldiers Eat, By Country - pavs
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/09/04/weekinreview/20100905_gilbertson.html
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elblanco
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 the cheese spread in some of
the meals is worth fighting over).

The biggest problem is always trying to get enough fiber to make sure the 'ol
plumbing doesn't get jammed up.

~~~
Volscio
I really loved the BBQ pork ribs. They also gave you soft bread in that pack,
and I think it also came with mint pound cake.

The article neglected to mention the tabasco being used in your eyes to keep
you awake while on guard duty.

I agree, the cheese spread (especially jalapeno) was the best. I would usually
not eat the meat-like product in MREs.

~~~
staunch
> _...tabasco being used in your eyes to keep you awake while on guard duty_

Commander: Son, why didn't you see that group of enemy soldiers neak up on and
slit the throats of half our men?!

Soldier: Well, I don't know, but I sure didn't fall asleep, sir!

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bootload
the accompanying article is much better, _"A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and
Powder"_ ~
[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/weekinreview/05gilbertson....](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/weekinreview/05gilbertson.html?ref=weekinreview)

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) which I used earlier this year
marching 240km for a lost bet on house prices ~
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/collections/7215762379...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/collections/72157623796440209/)

~~~
silentbicycle
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
buttery toast or grilled cheese, or as part of a soup stock. It's made from
beer yeast dregs, and is loaded with _umami_ and B vitamins. I highly
recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups. It adds a
lot of depth. I haven't ever tried marmite (as elblanco mentions), but
everything I've read has made them sound similar.

(I'm not Australian. I'm from Michigan, actually...)

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sliverstorm
> I highly recommend adding some to soup stock, especially vegetarian soups

But can vegetarians eat bacteria? They are animals too.

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

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

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

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tlack
I feel like applying for a job at the New York Times just so I can fix their
terrible Flash-based gallery software which is used in this article and many
others recently. Totally kills the otherwise-interesting browsing experience
for me. HTML5 would be more than sufficient for this.

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harshpotatoes
I'm curious, but how does flash detract from the browsing experience/ or how
would html5 add to the browsing experience?

To me it just seems like choosing one programming language over another...

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tlack
The Flash is buggy; when I mouse over the items, the little label doesn't
"unfold" until about 10 seconds after I move my mouse out of the photo. I can
see what it's trying to do -- it unfolds for an excruciating split second --
but I can't interact with the movie.

HTML works on more devices, requires fewer resources for an application like
this, and usually works more reliably in my recent experience. Why use Flash
for this interface?

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swah
From the article: “Combat espresso,” on the other hand, is brutal. The
creamer, instant coffee and sugar are poured directly into one’s mouth and
then washed down with water.

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sliverstorm
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 for them
better when you get enough protein.

~~~
silentbicycle
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 deficiency" thing has been pretty
thoroughly debunked, unless you only eat potato chips. It's surprisingly
difficult to eat a diet that won't give you at least a minimum of protein
without dying from e.g. pellegra or beri-beri first. (Maybe not enough protein
for hardcore bodybuilders, but certainly enough to live well.)

~~~
leif
The vegan/vegetarian diet problem is very real, and it is not just protein.
You can very easily miss out pretty severely on a lot of things just by
cutting meat out of your diet (iron, for example), and you do have to work
hard to make sure you maintain a balanced diet. I don't see this as a problem
for MREs, as composition has been pretty well solved, and I doubt it makes it
any harder to solve the perishable problem.

~~~
silentbicycle
Eating a balanced diet isn't hard as long as you don't eat the same thing
basically every day (i.e. fast food). I think it's probably a non-issue,
except for (say) naive teenage vegetarians - it's only a problem if you cut
out meat but don't replace it with anything. I've done my research - if you
have specific examples to the contrary, I'm all ears.

I ate a vegetarian diet for seven or eight years, a vegan diet for a few
months* along the way, and have had a primarily* * vegetarian diet for years
since then. I give blood regularly (I'm AB+, a rare donor blood type), and
I've never, ever, ever had a problem with low iron - it's usually been quite
high. While that's only one data point, it seems consistent with what I've
read about nutrition - problems mostly occur when people give up meat but
still eat a rather monotonous diet. ("In other news: Eating nothing but
twinkies and whiskey is bad for you...Film at eleven.")

* I'm a cooking geek, and was interesting where those constraints would lead me.

* * same, plus fish and occasional Italian and French/Vietnamese charcuterie (Bánh mì!), but I cook/eat vegetarian by default.

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leif
> I'm a cooking geek

hence, you should have no trouble. :)

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silentbicycle
I wonder how many people downvoting me even know what charcuterie is, let
alone have done it. :)

Besides: Lentils, spinach, and broccoli have iron. How many vegetarians don't
eat _at least_ one of those regularly? (Other cliches: vitamin B-12 - Vegans
might have a problem, vegetarians are fine. Calcium - "Dark green leafy
vegetables". Do vegetarians eat those? Oh. Wait...do carnivores eat those?)

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mmaunder
Love the moist towelette in the American pack.

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swah
Is smoking still popular in the field?

