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| SUMMIT PHOTO BY CHRIS TODD
Angeleah Johnson prepares her MRE lunch as Brianna Preteroti looks on. |
Kids take a taste of a soldier's life
By Chris Todd
Of The Summit
FOREST CITY - Youngsters and teachers at the Hanson Family Life Center got a little taste of the U.S. military - literally - last week.
The students ate MRE meals, or made ready to eat meals, that U.S. soldiers across the globe eat every day.
“Don't they have microwaves in the military?” asked eight year-old Spencer Larson after looking at a pre-packaged meal of spaghetti and meatballs.
Larson, with the help of teacher Jennifer Jordahl and Waldorf student Heather Thomas, eventually heated up the spaghetti and meatballs, and once on the plate, he dug in.
Larson and the rest of the students had good reviews for the food. It just took a while for the MRE's to be prepared.
Each meal consisted of a main entrée and various side dishes. Inside each meal was a hot bag, that when mixed with water, went to a quick boil. The entrees and side dishes were then put in a small, oblong box along with the hot bag and a few minutes later, were ready to eat.
“It was a little more complicated than I thought it might be,” Jordahl said with a laugh. “But this was a good experience for our children. I think they'll realize that not everyone gets to eat what they do at lunch every day.”
Prior to the opening each prepackaged meal, Jordahl gave a brief history of food that soldiers have eaten over the years.
She explained that MRE's were first introduced in 1963, but consisted mostly of canned goods throughout the Vietnam War.
As she was talking about the current MRE's, Jordahl told the youngsters the meals, when left unopened, have a shelf life of 3.5 years.
The meals are also convenient in terms of mobility, and the way they must be delivered to troops in the field.
“How far do you think you can safely drop the meals from a plane or helicopter,” Jordahl asked the students.
“Two hundred fifty nine feet,” one youngster posited. “One hundred miles,” was another guess.
“That might be a little too high,” Jordahl said with a chuckle. “The boxes and the food would get smashed.”
She later added that the MRE's can safely be dropped from about 1,200 feet.
Each student received one plastic bag consisting of one meal, and they got some surprises when they opened them.
“This one has marshmallows in it,” Larson said.
“This one says it's got a milkshake,” added another youngster. “I get to keep this one.”
Among some of the main courses of the meals were Sloppy Joes, Chicken Tetrazinni, Vegetable Manicotti and something called Jambalaya.
“Mine was chicken,” one youngster said. “It was hot and tasted pretty good, especially the cookie.”
Story created Aug 20, 2008 - 13:27:55 CDT.
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