In honor of Veteran's Day on Wednesday, I thought it appropriate to take a minute to thank them for their service. But since this is also a blog dedicated to packaging, I figured that I'd find something packaging related to talk about too.
So, I ran across an article about the US Army working on a redesign of MRE packaging. MREs are Meals Ready to Eat and are the lifeblood of keeping our military personnel nourished when on deployment, especially when they're out away from camp. They are also used for a number of other applications, but are typically used when you need to give food that can survive extreme conditions (war zones, natural disasters, camping in the woods...).
As the wife of a former Boy Scout, the mother to a current Boy Scout, and the daughter-in-law to an Air Force veteran and Hurricane Katrina survivor, I have to admit I'm more knowledgeable about MREs than most. I even have about 2 dozen in my storage room in the garage that my husband and son use for camping trips.
Since the Revolutionary War, US soldiers have been dictated a ration of food by the government, as they should be given they are fighting for said government. With the advent of canning, these rations started being delivered to troops in the field in cans. Cans are a great way to keep food fresh for extended periods of time, but there isn't much variety that can be thrown into a single can and sealed up. And given the diverse enlistees, having can rations started to lose its appeal.
Officials ultimately realized that simply providing a nutritionally balanced meal in the field was not adequate; catering to individual tastes and preferences would encourage service members to actually consume the whole ration and its nutrition. [And with] the use of specialized forces in extreme environments and the necessity of carrying increasingly heavy field loads while on foot during extended missions required significantly lighter alternatives to standard canned wet rations.
In the 1960s, the military began developing the MRE, a lighter-weight, dehydrated meal stored in a water-tight, sealed pouch. In 1981, the ration bags were introduced and throughout the next 30+ years, the menus expanded.
Today, MREs contain condiments, utensils, and a wide variety (including vegetarian options) of high caloric meals, meant to keep service men and women fed and functioning at optimal levels, no matter where they are stationed or what they are doing.
The government also gives these meals out in the wake of tremendous natural disasters, such as on the devastated Gulf Coast in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina came thundering through.
MREs, if stored properly, can last between 3 months and 3 years. If kept refrigerated they can last even longer (although the condiments may not survive quite as long). However, the military is constantly looking for ways to improve the MREs and are looking at new packaging that will help reduce the weight, the cost, and the environmental impact of the standard MREs used today.
Probably the most important benefit: [providing] a more airtight barrier to protect food and ensure freshness.
As they test knew ways to keep the food fresh and free from contamination, the military continues to release new menu items to personnel around the world. New items for 2016 will include 
macaroni in tomato sauce, spinach fettuccine, a chocolate protein drink powder, and crushed red pepper. And, apparently, work was continuing on a pepperoni pizza MRE.
So, when it comes to Veteran's Day, while you're home eating a hot meal with your family around the dinner table, remember the hundreds of thousands of men and women who may be eating out of a vacuum-sealed pouch. That packaging is sustaining them as they protect us around the world.
I, along with IPS Packaging, would like to take a moment to thank all veterans for their continued service to our great country, including my grandfather, my father, father-in-law, and countless friends from throughout my life. Without each of you, our country wouldn't be as great as it is today. Thank you.
