Slate: “Chocolate Milk at Every Meal”

Posted By elissa on Mar 20, 2011 | 2 comments

I just got through reading a Slate article on the food served in military mess halls. Although the armed services have improved the food offered to recruits in basic training, it appears that a lot of the food served to our soldiers is still pretty unhealthy.

As author Kristen Hinman reveals:

Take the Army. Its food program mandates that soldiers have access to eggs-made-to-order, three types of bread, three types of meat, six kinds of cereal, no fewer than one potato dish, and at least one pastry at breakfast alone. At least two hot entrees, with one sauce or gravy, must be offered at lunch and dinner, along with a deli bar featuring three types of meat; a short-order grill with four items; “two additional hot short-order entrees (pizza, fried chicken, and so forth)”; French fries; onion rings; assorted chips and pretzels, and at least four desserts. These are minimum standards. The Marine Corps is much the same. Chocolate milk is mandated at every Marine meal, and four types of soda must flow at lunch and dinner. Marine bases with funds available for takeout containers are encouraged to serve hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and French fries from the griddle at lunch, dinner and breakfast.

This all-you-can-eat style of chow-hall is a relatively new model. For most of the 20^th century, the menus were more Spartan, with one or two options for meat, starch, and vegetables. But after the draft was rescinded, military brass began to think of service members more like customers; a certain quality of life was considered necessary to keeping a fast-food nation enlisted, and the food-court model took over. At the same time, a parallel food universe evolved alongside the government-funded mess halls. Franchises like Taco Bell and KFC moved onto bases; vending machines stocked with candy and energy drinks were installed in barracks. After the Iraq war began in 2003, fast food became available in combat zones.

This account fits in with what I’ve been told by members of the forums I mod who are in the military. It is possible to eat healthily in such a food environment, but – like eating at “Old Country Buffet” or “Golden Corral” – they have to be very, very choosy.

At the least, the changes made for recruits should be made system-wide. We need to be doing better for our soldiers.