The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a self-contained individual United States military ration used by the United States Armed Forces and Department of Defense. It is intended for use by American service members in combat or field conditions where other food is not available. MREs have also been distributed to civilians as humanitarian daily rations during natural disasters and wars.
The C-ration was a United States military ration consisting of prepared, canned wet foods. They were intended to be served when fresh or packaged unprepared food was unavailable, and survival rations were insufficient. It was replaced by the similar Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) in 1958; its modern successor is the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE).
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time. There are many forms of rationing, although rationing by price is most prevalent.
A mess kit is a collection of silverware and cookware designed for use by military personnel for food and military rations. They may also be used during camping and backpacking. There are many varieties of mess kits that militaries issue to their personnel that later become available to consumers.
United States military ration refers to the military rations provided to sustain United States Armed Forces service members, including field rations and garrison rations, and the military nutrition research conducted in relation to military food. U.S. military rations are often made for quick distribution, preparation, and eating in the field and tend to have long storage times in adverse conditions due to being thickly packaged or shelf-stable.
Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war.
The K-ration was a United States military ration consisting of three separately boxed meal units: breakfast, dinner, and supper. It was originally intended as an individually packaged daily ration for issue to airborne troops, tank crews, motorcycle couriers, and other mobile forces for short durations.
Imperial Japanese rations were the field rations issued by Imperial Japan in World War II, and which reflected the culture of the Japanese military. Rations had to be stout, durable, simple, sturdy and had to survive without refrigeration for long periods of time. Typically each ration was served in the field in canned food boxes, and cooked near the battlefield. The mess tin was known as a han-gou.
A field ration is a type of prepackaged military ration designed to be easily and quickly prepared and consumed in the field, in combat, at the front line, or where eating facilities are otherwise unavailable. Field rations are primarily used by military forces, though they are also sometimes distributed to civilians as part of humanitarian aid and emergency management. They differ from garrison rations and field kitchen provisions, which are intended for where proper meals can be supplied and prepared with relative ease and safety, such as in the rear where logistics are steady and fresh food can be supplied. They are similar to, but distinct from, other purpose-designed long-lasting types of food or rations such as emergency rations, humanitarian daily rations, and camping food.
The Individual Meal Pack or IMP is one type of field ration used by the Canadian Forces. The IMP is designed so that a continuous diet provides all the nutrition needed to sustain a service-person in the field. The IMP meets Canada's nutrition requirements, with the exception of calcium and folic acid, which are not significant if the consumption period of rations is less than 30 (consecutive) days. IMPs provide 1,200–1,400 calories (5.0–5.9 MJ) per meal.
Foods of the American Civil War were the provisions during the American Civil War with which both the Union and Confederate armies struggled to keep their soldiers provisioned adequately.
Military rations, operational rations, or military provisions are goods issued to sustain the needs of military personnel. As their name suggests, military rations have historically been, and often still are, subject to rationing, with each individual receiving specific amounts from available supplies. Military-issued goods and the rationing of such goods has existed since the beginnings of organized warfare.
The Food Packet, Long Range Patrol was a freeze-dried dehydrated United States military ration used by the Department of Defense. Developed in 1964 and intended for wide adoption during the Vietnam War, its use was eventually limited to American special operations forces during long-range reconnaissance patrols, where bulky canned Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) rations proved too heavy for extended missions on foot. The LRP had a cold-weather warfare equivalent, the Ration, Cold Weather (RCW).
The Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) was a United States military ration of canned and preserved food, issued from 1958 to 1980. It replaced the earlier C-ration, which it was so similar to that it was often nicknamed the "C-ration", despite the term never being used officially. The MCI was eventually replaced by the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE).
The history of military nutrition in the United States can be roughly divided into seven historical eras, from the founding of the country to the present day, based on advances in food research technology and methodologies for the improvement of the overall health and nutritional status of U.S. military service members. Through the research and guidance of medical and military professionals, rations and packaging have been consistently and dramatically improved.
Military nutrition is the field and study of food, diet, and nutrition in the military. It generally covers and refers to military rations and nutrition in military organizations and environments.
Charles Domery, later also known as Charles Domerz, was a Polish soldier serving in the Prussian and French armies, noted for his unusually large appetite. Serving in the Prussian Army against France during the War of the First Coalition, he found that the rations of the Prussians were insufficient and deserted to the French Army in return for food. Although generally healthy, he was voraciously hungry during his time in the French service, and ate any available food. While stationed near Paris, he was recorded as having eaten 174 cats in a year, and although he disliked vegetables, he would eat 4 to 5 pounds of grass each day if he could not find other food. During service on the French ship Hoche, he attempted to eat the severed leg of a crew member hit by cannon fire, before other members of the crew wrestled it from him.
Prison food is the term for meals served to prisoners while incarcerated in correctional institutions. While some prisons prepare their own food, many use staff from on-site catering companies. Some prisons support the dietary requirements of specific religions, as well as vegetarianism. Prisoners will typically receive a series of standard meals per day from the prison, but in many prisons they can supplement their diets by purchasing additional foods, including snacks and desserts, at the prison commissary with money earned from working in the prison or sent by family and friends.
During the French and Indian War, British military rations contained enough food energy to sustain the soldier in garrison but suffered from a lack of vitamins that could lead to nutritional deficiencies if not supplemented by the soldiers themselves through garden produce or purchase. During field conditions, the energy content tended to be too small. Colonial rations for provincial troops generally had a higher energy content.
