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From www.kelownadailycourier.ca
National
Canadian rations to include protein supplement as meal replacement
By MURRAY BREWSTER
Sunday, July 29, 2007
OTTAWA (CP) - In 55 degree heat and with Taliban rockets raining down, the last thing most of us would feel like doing is chowing down on a steaming bag of preserved salmon fillet.
With that in mind, the Canadian army is set to introduce a protein drink to its field ration kits, a specially formulated supplement similar to what body builders use.
Maj. Julie Johnson, who is responsible for keeping the army’s supply of individual meal packs flowing to the front, says the military has found soldiers in Afghanistan operating "outside of the wire" have often not been eating three meals a day.
"Nobody really wants to choke down ravioli when it’s 150 degrees out, so the protein supplement is something that can be used in lieu," she said in an interview.
The meal replacement is a powdered drink that mixes with water and comes in three flavours - vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. It will begin appearing in soldiers’ rations within the next couple of weeks, said Johnson.
About a year ago, the army started to realize that soldiers, especially those running the gauntlet of supply convoys from Kandahar Airfield to far-flung desert bases, didn’t have the time or the inclination to eat breakfast, lunch and supper every day.
"When I saw that, I said that was inappropriate and we need to maintain their nutritional wellness," said Johnson.
Individual meal packs - or IMPs - are the stuff of culinary legend in the army, with a shelf life of over three years.
As soldiers often say: "Once you’ve had it, you’ll never forget it, although you wish you could."
Often derided as an assault on the pallet, the rations are distributed to troops when it’s impossible to set up field kitchens, which in Afghanistan means pretty much everywhere outside of the main NATO base at Kandahar Airfield, the provincial team base in the city and select forward operating bases.
The brown-bagged meals, of which there are 18 varieties, contain one main entree, a dessert, powdered fruit drinks, coffee, candy and, significantly, a comment card.
Over the years, there have been some colourful responses. A macaroni and cheese dinner, into which the supplier inexplicably added freeze-dried peas, elicited a barrage of comments.
Nicole Belanger-Drapeau, the civilian manager of the ration program at National Defence, said she was bombarded with notes for three years saying: "Pleeeease get rid of the peas."
Other unpopular selections that have now been purged from the menu include the breakfast ham omelette and the ham steak dinner.
When the company that manufactures the rations decided to drop the little chunk of preserved, bagged bread from its inventory, Belanger-Drapeau decided to replace it with packages of dried toast, which soldiers later compared to eating chunks of hardened Styrofoam.
"Well, again I was proven wrong because soldiers did not like them," she said with a mildly exasperated wave of her hand.
Belanger-Drapeau has perhaps one of the most unforgiving jobs at National Defence, deciding what to put on the combat ration menu. She organizes annual taste-testing events at bases across Canada to try out new selections.
"It’s extremely difficult and it’s becoming even more difficult with the younger generation," she said.
Unlike their fathers and grandfathers, who would have been happy scarfing down wieners and beans, many of the country’s new soldiers have sophisticated and diverse taste buds.
They like food with a lot of flavour and spices, said Belanger-Drapeau.
"We’ve moved towards what you would call ethnic food so you have a good variety," she said.
"With 18 choices you’re trying to feed over 1,600 troops - or even the entire army - it’s very difficult because in a family of four you have two people who don’t eat this and the others don’t eat that."
Some of the dinner menu selections now include Indian chicken, Szechwan chicken and cabbage rolls.
Another unexpected problem: the length of time troops eat the bagged food. With field operations sometimes lasting weeks, the chances of eating the same meal over and over are pretty high.
"What was appealing on a 10-day exercise in Canada is no longer appealing in Afghanistan - or it’s hard with the temperatures to swallow," said Johnson.
Peanut butter and chocolate bars are examples of things that are popular back home, but quickly become an unappealing gooey mess in the withering deserts.
"Everybody fights for the IMP with the chocolate bar in Canada, they horde it and it sometimes becomes currency, but in Afghanistan it’s the last thing you want because it melts," said Johnson.
Despite the grumbling, soldiers must not be able to get enough of them. The meal packs have become a hot commodity - so to speak - even back in Canada, where EBay was offering Friday five packs for $42.
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/includes/datafiles/CP_print.php?id=56654&title=Canadian%20rations%20to%20include%20protein%20supplement%20as%20meal%20replacement
From www.kelownadailycourier.ca
National
Canadian rations to include protein supplement as meal replacement
By MURRAY BREWSTER
Sunday, July 29, 2007
OTTAWA (CP) - In 55 degree heat and with Taliban rockets raining down, the last thing most of us would feel like doing is chowing down on a steaming bag of preserved salmon fillet.
With that in mind, the Canadian army is set to introduce a protein drink to its field ration kits, a specially formulated supplement similar to what body builders use.
Maj. Julie Johnson, who is responsible for keeping the army’s supply of individual meal packs flowing to the front, says the military has found soldiers in Afghanistan operating "outside of the wire" have often not been eating three meals a day.
"Nobody really wants to choke down ravioli when it’s 150 degrees out, so the protein supplement is something that can be used in lieu," she said in an interview.
The meal replacement is a powdered drink that mixes with water and comes in three flavours - vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. It will begin appearing in soldiers’ rations within the next couple of weeks, said Johnson.
About a year ago, the army started to realize that soldiers, especially those running the gauntlet of supply convoys from Kandahar Airfield to far-flung desert bases, didn’t have the time or the inclination to eat breakfast, lunch and supper every day.
"When I saw that, I said that was inappropriate and we need to maintain their nutritional wellness," said Johnson.
Individual meal packs - or IMPs - are the stuff of culinary legend in the army, with a shelf life of over three years.
As soldiers often say: "Once you’ve had it, you’ll never forget it, although you wish you could."
Often derided as an assault on the pallet, the rations are distributed to troops when it’s impossible to set up field kitchens, which in Afghanistan means pretty much everywhere outside of the main NATO base at Kandahar Airfield, the provincial team base in the city and select forward operating bases.
The brown-bagged meals, of which there are 18 varieties, contain one main entree, a dessert, powdered fruit drinks, coffee, candy and, significantly, a comment card.
Over the years, there have been some colourful responses. A macaroni and cheese dinner, into which the supplier inexplicably added freeze-dried peas, elicited a barrage of comments.
Nicole Belanger-Drapeau, the civilian manager of the ration program at National Defence, said she was bombarded with notes for three years saying: "Pleeeease get rid of the peas."
Other unpopular selections that have now been purged from the menu include the breakfast ham omelette and the ham steak dinner.
When the company that manufactures the rations decided to drop the little chunk of preserved, bagged bread from its inventory, Belanger-Drapeau decided to replace it with packages of dried toast, which soldiers later compared to eating chunks of hardened Styrofoam.
"Well, again I was proven wrong because soldiers did not like them," she said with a mildly exasperated wave of her hand.
Belanger-Drapeau has perhaps one of the most unforgiving jobs at National Defence, deciding what to put on the combat ration menu. She organizes annual taste-testing events at bases across Canada to try out new selections.
"It’s extremely difficult and it’s becoming even more difficult with the younger generation," she said.
Unlike their fathers and grandfathers, who would have been happy scarfing down wieners and beans, many of the country’s new soldiers have sophisticated and diverse taste buds.
They like food with a lot of flavour and spices, said Belanger-Drapeau.
"We’ve moved towards what you would call ethnic food so you have a good variety," she said.
"With 18 choices you’re trying to feed over 1,600 troops - or even the entire army - it’s very difficult because in a family of four you have two people who don’t eat this and the others don’t eat that."
Some of the dinner menu selections now include Indian chicken, Szechwan chicken and cabbage rolls.
Another unexpected problem: the length of time troops eat the bagged food. With field operations sometimes lasting weeks, the chances of eating the same meal over and over are pretty high.
"What was appealing on a 10-day exercise in Canada is no longer appealing in Afghanistan - or it’s hard with the temperatures to swallow," said Johnson.
Peanut butter and chocolate bars are examples of things that are popular back home, but quickly become an unappealing gooey mess in the withering deserts.
"Everybody fights for the IMP with the chocolate bar in Canada, they horde it and it sometimes becomes currency, but in Afghanistan it’s the last thing you want because it melts," said Johnson.
Despite the grumbling, soldiers must not be able to get enough of them. The meal packs have become a hot commodity - so to speak - even back in Canada, where EBay was offering Friday five packs for $42.
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/includes/datafiles/CP_print.php?id=56654&title=Canadian%20rations%20to%20include%20protein%20supplement%20as%20meal%20replacement
yetch!
