Fattening menus for troops in Iraq

[Barrett808]

Source: LA Times

Fattening menus for troops in Iraq
Dietitians note that fried food and desserts dominate the selection at dining facilities, putting U.S. forces at risk of weight gain.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Times Staff Writer
July 9, 2007

BAGHDAD — When Spc. Matthew Curll left basic training for Iraq nearly a year ago, he traded a bland diet of MREs for burgers, pie and Fudgsicles.

"You go from a lot of MREs and crappy stuff at the mess hall to prime rib on Sundays," said Curll, 21, of Lancaster, Mass., over a dinner of baked chicken followed by ice cream in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

"I wasn't expecting it at all," added Spc. Joe Reen, 23, of Norwood, Mass., finishing a turkey wrap and green salad. "You wanted to try everything."

The two indulged at first, but said they learned to resist most of the fried food and extra desserts that dominate the menu at U.S. dining facilities in Iraq. Others are not so careful, they said, including a few officers ahead of them in the chow line.

"There were three colonels in front of me who got double scoops and extra toppings," Reen said.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-heavy9jul09,1,1012172.story?track=rss

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"Charley didn't get much USO. He was dug in too deep or moving too fast. His idea of great R&R was cold rice and a little rat meat. He had only two ways home: death, or victory." -- Captain Willard, Apocalypse Now

[donsu]

1. and all that food comes into the green zone by road or air.

the Iraqis are destroying bridges and attacking food convoys. which are protected by the extremely well paid contractors who are also dying every day or getting the genitals blown off.

soon food will come into the green zone only by air.

[happyslug]

2. Most troops LOSE weight in Combat.

That is the historical norm, even Marines in Vietnam lost 20-30% of their weight (and this was when the Marines had FOUR meals a day). The main reason is all the moving around a solider does in combat. Rear echelon troops gain weigh on the army Ration, front line troops LOSE weight. You just can NOT carry around 50-100 pounds of Equipment (Weapons, Armor, ammunition etc) at a dead run and NOT burn a lot of calories. In Iraq most of the troops have transport so it is rare for soldiers to WALK except when in Combat, but even at that reduce level of activity, it is still a LOT of activity (Most combat involves Running, hitting the ground, get up quickly off the ground etc. a lot of sudden and quick bursts). All of these actions burn a LOT OF Calories, thus combat troops lose weight (and I will NOT go into the lost of weight do to the psychological pressures do to seeing your buddies get killed and wounded in front of your eyes).

When you burn a lot of calories, you need high calorie foods. In the days before mechanized equipment, farmers ate Fried foods for the same reason, high calorie input to offset high calorie outputs (as did other people who did a lot of manual labor). The problem is NOT people WHO are burning the colories, but the people who are NOT burning the colories. Such high calorie food turn to fat in low energy output people. It is when people do NOT have need for such high calorie food that they get into trouble.

[maxsolomon]

3. i doubt weight gain is an issue for COMBAT troops

hauling 40 lbs. of gear in 110 degree heat - you could take in 3500 calories a day & be fine.

supply staff who sit in offices - maybe.

[msongs]

4. the occupiers pig out while the occupied starve. nt

[RamboLiberal]

5. Yeah bet a lot of the Rear Echelon are gaining weight

And if you look at some of the older guys and gals in the Reserves/NG they look a bit out of shape. Sad part now is that the combat troops are out in those outposts in the neighborhoods where they're back to MRE's, no showers and primitive toilet facilities.

I was reading they get to come in maybe once a week for a shower, good meal and a bit of down time.

[ohio2007]

6. The Colonels "secret recipe" is surging around the world

Most americans eat fast food that is far more likely to put a few pounds on anyone if enough is consumed.

[NeedleCast]

7. Army Food

Ain't bad. At least not for the most part. Even when I was in basic, the chow wasn't bad, and I'm a pretty critical judge of food. In Afghanistan, in the rare instance that we were able to eat at a chow hall or field kitchen, there were usually healthy selections. Fatty and sugary isn't all bad when you're burning 3500-4000 calories a day or more. In five months in Afghanistan, I lost about 20 pounds while eating (on average) 4000 calories of food a day.

I certainly can't speak for every chow hall in the military, but I've been to many. Fort Myer, Bowling Air force base, Fort Belivore, McDill AFB, Fallon Naval Air Station, Fort Irwin, just to name some of them, and while there were often fried selections, burgers, fries, etc, they also usually had healthy selections like baked chicken, many vegetable choices, salads, stir fry, fish, etc.

By far the best chow hall I ate at (for any length of time) was Camp Humphery's, Korea.

These days, when I see the word dietitian it invokes visions of the food nanny's who want to tax my twinkies and take away my Pepsi.

In any case, while there are a lot of what would be considered unhealthy foods on the menu at chow halls, there are almost always plenty of healthy choices as well.