For hundreds of years armies across the globe have struggled to find an easy, portable emal that would satisfy the nutritional requirements of the soldiers that were serving in the armed forces.
During the early days of armed conflict soldiers were tasked with foraging for their own supplies. This obviously led to ill feeling amng the local populace.
Then with the invention of stable canned goods it became possible for a government to feed its troops from a central point. After all it was well known that an army ‘marched on its stomach’.
However those canned goods weighed a lot and were awkward to trasnport – and the troops were not overly fond of the contents.
Then things changed. It had taken hundreds of years but finally troops were supplied with the first types of MRE’s – Meals Ready To Eat.
By 1938 troops in U.S. service were supplied with what was called the ‘C Ration’. Canned and pre cooked these became popular with those who were overseas during world war 2.
There were various improvements to the content – but they never matched the quality of the fresh food that was provided by camp kitchens.
Then in 1983 something changed. The first Meal, Ready to Eat reached the troops. These were also not tremendously popular – but nutritional scientists applied their mind and the quality of the meals steadily increased.
By the mid 1980’s those nutrionists had realised that portion sizes and variety were the key to keeping troops satisfied with rations while they were off base.
In 1983 during Desert storm tropps were served with MRE’s as their only source of nutrition – they were not happy with the quality. But again those scientists in charge of the nutritional requirments and satisfaction of troops applied their minds. By 1986 formulations and offerings had drastically improved.
By the late 80’s there was the introduction of more variants of MRE’s. Troop acceptance of these meals skyrocketed. The introduction of better versions of self heating MRE’s and further different types of entrees and freeze diried coffee and condiments made MRE’s a meal of choice for those out in the field.
The latest versions of MRE’s include commercial packaging which introduced versions of popular foodstuffs to troops which drastically improved the acceptance of the meals among troops. An exxample being the inclusion of a miniature bottle of Tabasco Sauce which proved incredibly popular as did sweets from popular ranges.
The United States now offers troops a variety of different meals – in fact over 24 different types.
Today MRE’s are popular not only within the world of the military but also for those who value disaster preparedness. The self heating versions are ideal for this use and the sheer range of different types of meals are simply staggering.
The technology – and taste of these meals has improved dramatically and they are the ideal solution for emergency situations. They can be bought from Internet shops or at big brand retailers.