Re: [Paddlewise] Where do you buy MREs???

dldecker_at_se.mediaone.net wrote:
> 
> Boy you must been under a rock some place to call these MRE's delicious ,
> eatable yes , delicious not in this life time.
> 
> Dana

You might try Long Life Food Depot at http://www.longlifefood.com.  I
wrote an article in my newsletter about 6 years ago.  Actually, it was
written by my son who is a career soldier.

Here it is:

START ARTICLE---
Sometime last year, I got a phone call from Steve Paley of Port Angeles,
Washington wanting info on folding kayaks.  Somewhere along the line he
brought the conversation around to MREs, i.e. government issue Meals
Ready to Eat.  Steve maintained that they were an ideal food for
kayaking.  I winced.  What a terrible idea!  The butt of jokes during
Desert Storm.  Steve insisted and put my name on the mailing list for a
company that specializes in distributing MREs to the civilian market
(see box).
	My son, Jason, was visiting when I got the catalog from Resourceful
Foods Co. and I showed it to him.  Jason is an authority on the subject
. . . four years in the Army.  A good deal of this was in Germany, not
all bratwurst and beer since his division (the Big Red One) was in the
field one week each month.  And he was with the 24th Mechanized Infantry
in the Saudi desert (definitely no bratwurst and beer) from the very
start of Desert Shield to the 24th’s month long stay in Iraq.
	Jason had a lot of fun looking through the catalog but he basically
agreed with Steve on the merits of MREs.  They may have a point in terms
of price, convenience and nutrition.  Taste, of course, is critical. 
The key, as Jason points out, is knowing which selections are good or
bad and, more importantly, how to deal with them.  Here then is a
critical appraisal written by a veteran of a thousand meals of the
stuff.

	MREs may be Meals Ready To Eat in Army parlance but we soldiers called
them Meals Rejected by Everyone.  At least that was what I was telling
my folks to get the mountains of care packages of cookies, baking and
other food goodies that they, friends and relatives regularly sent us.
	Most people don’t know this, but MREs went through several
generations.  As a veteran of both the old and the new menus, I must say
that the government finally did get around to doing a good job.  With
very few exceptions, the old menus were Grade Z ALPO that even the
hungriest of stray dogs would walk away from.

Surprisingly good choice
	The big problem with MREs is one a civilian would never face -- limited
choices.  In the Army, MREs came in large boxes with a variety of meals
within.  We fought over the best choices or ate them first; then we were
stuck with lesser items.  Too, 12 available selections can get pretty
monotonous when you are eating just MREs for months at a time as I and
others had to do while in Saudi.  The Resourceful Foods people let you
package MREs in various combinations that will avoid the unappealing
items.
	The best thing about MREs is that with a little ingenuity and
imagination, you can come up with a very palatable meal.  For example,
the cheese spread mixes well with just about every meal.  And putting
the main course on a cracker makes a decent open-faced sandwich.

Ideal for kayak camping
	While they may be eaten cold, my suggestions is to avoid this at all
costs, especially the ham slice.  Warm, it is great.  Cold, you have to
scrape off the “ham jelly” before even thinking about eating it.  You
can’t imagine how awful that jelly is if you have to down it cold.
	As a paddler, you never ever need to eat an MRE cold.  Take advantage
of your paddling to warm up one of these meals before you need it.  For
example, slip the MRE under your PFD next to your body, say a half hour
before you think you will pulling up for lunch.  The body warmth
generated by paddling will heat up the ingredients to a tasty level.  If
you have had a long day of paddling, nothing would beat having an MRE
warmed up this way when you feel exhausted.  The meal truly is ready to
eat and high in calories.  It provides a quick pick-me-up to get you
going again to set up camp and prepare a regular meal later, which could
be another MRE or something else you may like.
	Another plus.  Since MREs contain liquid, in effect, they add to your
water supply.   The MREs do not have to be re-hydrated as do freeze
dried foods.  This saves your water for other uses.

How to heat the right way
	One note about heating them.  The MRE pouches have some notches on
them.  The Army intends you to tear the foil at these notches after
heating and then eat out of the top.  Wrong!  The best way to eat out of
the pouch is to tear the package along its length, not at the top.  This
gives you a wider opening for spooning out the last morsels without
getting residue all over your fingers as you do when digging in from the
top.  Another proof of the truth of the old saying that there is the
right way, the wrong way and the Army way.
	To heat your meal, just boil water.  It need not be clean water, since
the contents of the package are never in contact with it.  So you can
use brackish or salt water without risk.  By the way, the Leatherman
tool (Folding Kayaker, July/August 1991) is a handy device for dealing
with a hot MRE.  In Saudi, I found that the Leatherman’s pliers worked
well for fishing MREs out of boiling pots.  Since I always had the one
my dad sent me in my pocket, I usually could beat my buddies to the
choicer selections.
	Another note about MREs: easy disposal and cleanup.  You eat the main
meal out of the pouch.  Other items come in their own wrapping.  And all
of it is in a larger foil container.  When you finished, the larger
wrapper is a ready garbage bag for storing everything until you can
dispose of it.

The Ins and Outs of MREs
	The meals, while high in calories, can leave you feeling hungry.  To
fill your stomach, you need to eat a couple.  It’s the same as with
freeze dried foods which claim they can feed two people but are really
only practical for one person.  I’ve looked over the selection of MREs
in the catalog.  Here are my evaluations, suggestions and comments
starting with the good ones, marked with a thumbs up, and ending with a
thumbs down for those to avoid except when starved (maybe not even
then).


Up	Meatballs  	Great on crackers or bread.

Up	Spaghetti	The best of the bunch.

Up	Ham slice	Heat it up.

Up	Chicken	Needs tabasco sauce.
	with rice	

Up	Escalloped	Heat it up.
	potatoes
	with ham	

Up	Bread		This is one of the true delights of the MRE family.  Almost
worth killing your buddy for.

Up	Applesauce	Don’t bother with spoon; cut off corner of packet and
squeeze.

Up	Jelly		Something no one can mess up, not even the Army.

Up	Peanut butter	Be sure to follow instructions and knead well.

Up	Pound cake	Ranges from OK to great.  Old fruit cake was a loser.
Up	Chocolate	Affectionately known as
	cookies		“track pads.”


Down	Tuna with	Never have tried it, never
	noodles		will; looks like brain matter.

Down	Potatoes	aka Potatoes All Rotten.
	Au Gratin	

Down	Oatmeal	Tastes like sweet compressed
	cookie bar	sand; aka sand bar.  

END ARTICLE

That was written back in 1993.  I believe there are new flavors of the
stuff.  The source used then was Resourceful Foods Co at 1-800-SUBSIST
but they may have moved or changed.  So try that website mentioned
above.

ralph diaz
-- 
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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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