Living Quarters and Free Time

[Biggoals2bdone]

Its really up to your lifestyle, I have a dog, and I am not married or common-law, therefore they would not give me a pmq, and I don't like not having any control over what I ingest, due to being an athlete. Therefore for me, living off base was the best option, plus I get PRIVACY, and my own bathroom!  So really its up to you, and how you like living your life, when you are in garrison.

I have to say this is the FIRST EVER time i've heard anyone say the food is GOOD at any CF mess hall, its usually the opposite I hear. Personally, I can't say i've ever really enjoyed the food at any mess hall, always very greasy, hard to get anything whole grain or healthy, bland taste, and get ready to LOVE fries.

 

[EpicBeardedMan]

Its really up to your lifestyle, I have a dog, and I am not married or common-law, therefore they would not give me a pmq, and I don't like not having any control over what I ingest, due to being an athlete. Therefore for me, living off base was the best option, plus I get PRIVACY, and my own bathroom!  So really its up to you, and how you like living your life, when you are in garrison.

I have to say this is the FIRST EVER time i've heard anyone say the food is GOOD at any CF mess hall, its usually the opposite I hear. Personally, I can't say i've ever really enjoyed the food at any mess hall, always very greasy, hard to get anything whole grain or healthy, bland taste, and get ready to LOVE fries.

Sucks to hear this. Was hoping there would be a lot of healthy food options as I'm very..primal... with what I eat. Tend to stay away from crap foods.

 

[armychick2009]

Sucks to hear this. Was hoping there would be a lot of healthy food options as I'm very..primal... with what I eat. Tend to stay away from crap foods.

I'm a bit the same way with my eating, though I wouldn't call it Primal. (I picture you eating an uncooked leg of a cow as I read that!)

I prefer to call it "whole foods" which is essentially anything unprocessed in my books. When I did a course at Borden, I found most days I was able to eat pretty well. There's always the salad bar (which actually had more than just lettuce!) and a lot of the food options in the hot-meal lines, allowed me to usually eat some type of unprocessed crap. I'd say out of the 21 days x 3 meals a day (60-some meals!), I really only had about three or four meals where there just wasn't enough for me to eat that had unprocessed crap in it.

However, that being said... what I would consider not idea for my way of eating, was gourmet for most of the people on my course!

 

[EpicBeardedMan]

I'm a bit the same way with my eating, though I wouldn't call it Primal. (I picture you eating an uncooked leg of a cow as I read that!)

Hahaha what I meant was unprocessed stuff, stuff that a caveman would eat basically, meat, fruits, vegetables, seeds, etc. I don't think I'd mind so much during BMQ stuffing my face with food to get me by but I'd like to return to my lifestyle after BMQ.

 

[Pusser]

Food services in the CF are exceptionally good.  Menus are designed with care to ensure that meals are attractive and nutritious.  However, it is institutional cooking that is trying to cater to many different palates.  Unfortunately, we can't please everyone all the time.  If anyone doubts the quality of food in CF messes, might I suggest you try eating in the messes of some or our allies.  Doing so would give you a whole new appreciation for the CF as most of our allies eat very poorly in comparison to us.

 

[REDinstaller]

Like the German mess at ISAF HQ in Kabul. Lunch always looked like something hot right out of the local sump. Goulash of somekind, just not readily identifyable.

 

[Pusser]

The Dining Facility at Butmir in Bosnia was run by an Englishman and a Scot, catering mostly to an eastern european palate.  What a disaster!  Their idea of vegetables was mushrooms and peppers boiled together - everyday for 196 @#$! days!

 

[George Wallace]

As Pusser says, our Food Services people have been amongst the best of all the world's militaries for the past century.  With recent changes to our messes they are still light years ahead of other militaries.  Other militaries will go out of their way to stop and eat in one of our messes overseas.  Even when Americans, and others, visit our messes here at home, they complement us on our messes. 

If you are such a fussy eater, that you can not find what you want in one of our messes, I would probably suggest joining the military is not for you.

 

[REDinstaller]

Not much of  a wine list with IMPs either.  :

 

[Old Sweat]

I was attached to two different NATO artillery units deployed on exercise in 1973. The first was the Norwegian Field Artillery Battalion Brigade North based in Saetermoen. The food was pretty basic at best, with dry bread, cheese and cold cuts much in evidence. The unpiece de resistance was the whale hamburger that challenged my palate at one meal, followed close behind on the low end of the gourmet scale by fish sticks that tasted much more like sticks than fish.

The other was the Italian First Mountain Artillery Regiment, an Alpini unit, on exercise in the Val d'Aosta near the French border. The food was plain, plentiful, well prepared and recognizable. A typical meal in the field included pasta, a cutlet and some fresh fruit. A life experience worth the trip was to be issued one's ration of red wine from a jerry can. If one was so inclined, the travails of life in the Alps could be handled by emptying a small plastic packet (think a fast food Ketchup-sized serving) of grappa into a mug of coffee.

 

[EpicBeardedMan]

If you are such a fussy eater, that you can not find what you want in one of our messes, I would probably suggest joining the military is not for you.

I think it's kind of a longshot to say because I choose to eat healthy the military isn't for me.. I think not paying for the mess and getting my own food would be a better solution than to give up a career don't you?

 

[George Wallace]

I think it's kind of a longshot to say because I choose to eat healthy the military isn't for me.. I think not paying for the mess and getting my own food would be a better solution than to give up a career don't you?

And for those days when you are out in the Field on Ex, or away for six or more months on Tour, do you think you can go out and buy your own food?  Either get used to it now, or don't bother.  You haven't even been in a mess to find out what the food is like anyway so this whole exercise is moot to begin with.

 

[REDinstaller]

And where is the closest Loblaws when deployed on ship???? George is right, if you haven't experienced the mess don't complain on the food it provides. Shipboard cooks can be quite superb on what they produce for meals.

 

[chrisf]

The food in most messes is fantastic, anyone who tells you otherwise is either a picky eater, or looking for an excuse to complain. There's also plenty of unhealthy choices available in the messes, but no one is shoving it down your throat. Just because what they're serving in the steam line on a particular day isn't what you want, nearly every mess also has a huge salad bar. I used to love it, the mounds of fresh veggies, fruit, etc. (Not all, our local mess is terrible... the worst I've ever experienced... the food is typically quite tasty, but deep fried makes up maybe 50% of what they serve, and their salad bar more often then not consists of potato salad, coleslaw, 3 bean salad, and a plate full of cheese. I've asked, quite politely, if they're able to just put out some raw veggies. This polite inquiry eventually made it's way back to our SSM and I was jacked for insulting the kitchen staff. None too please about this.)

 

[REDinstaller]

Vimy mess strikes again. :nod:

 

[armychick2009]

I wasn't stating that the food was horrible.... on the contrary, a lot of work is put into the meals (in Borden, anyways) and no one went hungry or complained about the food while I was on course. The staff were amazing and very professional and you could tell they took pride in what they were preparing and serving. I was however, comparing it to what I normally eat (and EpicBeardedMan) which is more simple (ie, not stuffed chicken, or chicken parmesan or veal cutlets, etc.). 

For something short-term (six to 9 months) I understand I'll be either eating ration packs or boxed lunches or goulash or whatever... and it won't be the end of the world as I know it. However, the original context in which the food discussion began was in contemplating long-term living arrangements. For example, living cheaply in the shacks eating at the mess 52 weeks a year versus spending more money on an apartment but saving by purchasing groceries you prepare yourself to suit your taste. 

In that case,  for someone who is looking at living on base for a few years eating in a style they feel isn't optimal for their own body, it is something to seriously consider. For some people they can eat anything and be fit and strong with little effort. However, for myself  I need to work continually at it and be aware of what I consume. If I can avoid hidden calories and fats, then I do. If I can't, no biggie but I try to make the effort.

 

[Pusser]

In moving back to the original intent of this thread, I would like to point out that living in quarters is not necessarily a good way to save money.  The cost of Rations aside, my own experience when I lived in single quarters was that I spent far more money getting out of the place (i.e. going to restaurants when I felt I needed a better meal, going to movies, going out to clubs, etc).  When I finally got an apartment I found that watching TV in my underwear with a bowl of Cheerios was not only pleasurable, but inexpensive.  Mind you, in those days most of us did not have personal computers (certainly no internet), personal TVs in our rooms or cell phones.  Trying to kick off a relationship with a potential partner when your phone number is for the pay phone down the hall is difficult at best and the common room TVs were usually hijacked by some crowd watching a sporting event.

 

[REDinstaller]

And the days of a free tv in the common room are over, if the shack even has one left. :'(

 

[George Wallace]

And the days of a free tv in the common room are over, if the shack even has one left. :'(

They've run Cable and Internet/Phone lines to all the rooms.  Some Schools have free wireless.  Many have their own bar fridge in their room these days.  Such social animals.  Only need to leave the shack to eat and work.  In 15 to 20 years we should have a good number of 40 year old virgins.    ;D

 

[REDinstaller]

And in Edmonton they want all of these virgins to move out, have to make way for the 19-23 yr olds that don't have the financial skills to make a move downtown possible.