Ellington

MRE does not stand for mighty right eating, but according to those in the know—namely the United States military—MREs do the right thing for today's men and women who must have nourishment to do their jobs, while training or in combat situations where there's not a field kitchen in sight.

Napoleon said it—an army travels on its stomach. Actually, an army travels on the energy that results from calories consumed. MREs are loaded with calories—an average of 1250 each, according to the Defense Logistics Agency Defense Supply Center Philadelphia Subsistence Web site—broken down thusly, 13 percent protein, 36 percent fat and 51 percent carbohydrates. Each MRE also meets one-third of the Military Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins and minerals deemed essential by the Surgeon General of the United States.

As recently as 2000, there were only 13 individual MRE menus. Soldiers spoke up, the establishment responded, and today MREs come in 24 separate entrée menus, each a self-contained unit with items that complement the entrée. And to satisfy the ever-increasing needs of warriors from different backgrounds and ideologies, today's meals include ethnic, religious and vegetarian options.

Menu 20, as it existed as recently as Feb., is pictured here—Spaghetti with Meat and Sauce and its complements: carbohydrate-enhanced, cheese spread, wheat snack bread, hard candy, strawberry dairy shake powder, applesauce, a small bottle of Tabasco sauce, Accessory Packet A (coffee, sugar, creamer, salt, chewing gum, matches, toilet paper and hand cleaner), a long brown spoon and a flameless heater pouch.

"The wheat snack bread is compact, sort of dense, but I really like it with peanut butter and jelly," said Kinton Connelly, 35, of Charlotte, N. C.

He told me on the phone that he got interested in MREs in 2000 when folks thought seriously about stock-piling food as part of their Y2K rationale.

The entrée is in what's called retort packaging, made from heavy-duty aluminum and a layer of plastic laminate—which takes the place of a can—and fits into the pockets on soldiers' field clothing. These foods are really ready to eat. They're not freeze-dried. You only use water to heat them.

Since 1993 MREs have included two heat sources of sorts—an individual tiny bottle of Tabasco sauce and the flameless ration heater. Soldiers pour the requisite amount of water into the flameless heater and wait 10 to 15 minutes for the chemical reaction between the water and a magnesium iron compound to heat the entrée. The directions are clearly written and illustrated on the outside of the green plastic heater along with several warnings: "Do not throw unactivated heaters in the trash! … Follow unit policy for collection and disposal procedure." "Do not overfill." "CAUTION: The contents will be HOT."

For many who camp or who store food for survival purposes, MREs are a boon. Customers can purchase commercial or civilian MREs online or elsewhere. One difference in civilian and military MREs is the calorie count—800 to 900 per meal for civilian, according to mre.info.com. Another difference is that the flameless ration heater is in not included in the civilian MRE. Finally, the civilian menu is limited—a case of military MREs contains 12 different menus per case of 24 while a case of civilian MREs has only six different menus per case of 12. And there's not any Tabasco sauce, hard candy or toilet paper. They do include a condiment pack, though, that includes coffee and its fixings plus salt, napkin, spoon and a wet nap.

So, if you're a survivalist, a backpacker, a hunter or someone who wants to prepare for any emergency, go online and search for civilian or commercial MREs. You will quickly locate several helpful Web sites, right down to that tiny bottle of hot sauce.