# How‘s the food?



## InfantryWannabee (24 May 2004)

Hi, I‘m considering joining the CF (as an Infanteer I hope) once I‘m done school. I just wanted to know what the food was like. Could someone who‘s in the CF help me with this? Thanks.


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## Sh0rtbUs (24 May 2004)

well, the IMP‘s (Individual Meal Packages) are ok I geuss. personally, i find it difficult to keep alot of the main meals down....but it does the trick when your in the field. Theres also something called a Box lunch. Basically, the mess puts sandwiches/fruit/milk..etc in a box for you. Not meant for the field as it doesnt have a long shelf life, unlike the IMP‘s. Finally, we have Mess Food itself. I absolutely love eating at the mess at Borden, hot food thats not half bad, and plenty of it. Dont worry bout food, the army keeps you fed and makes sure your nutritional needs are met.


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## InfantryWannabee (25 May 2004)

Alright, thanks.


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## chrisf (25 May 2004)

An army marches on it‘s stomach, and food can make or break moral. Generally, and thankfully, in my experience at least, the Canadian forces have taken this to heart.

Mess food is generally good, some messes are better then others, but over all, most are decent.

I noticed Hay Boxes weren‘t mentioned, this is another food possiblity while in the field. Essentially, they‘re boxes that are loaded with food by the mess, brought into the field, and served to the troops.

Regarding the box lunches, they‘re sort of like the lunch you would have gotten when you were going to school back in grade three...

Regarding the IMPs, rumor is that our ration packs are some of the better ones globally... anyone care to confirm or deny this?

I mean, really, there‘s variety, there‘s plenty of calories, and they aren‘t *that* bad, heck, after a hard day in the field, some of them are pretty darned good (I‘m proud to say I have YET to eat a omlette of any sort)

If nothing else, the meatballs are great.

As a little aside to this thread, how do people usually eat the starch (Rice or potatoe) "side dishes"? Mix them with water or just dump them in the main course? I find actually mixing them with water is far too much trouble.

And can anyone actually eat the buttered rice? I was thinking about disposing of the rice itself and reconstituting the powder as a CLP alternative.


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## McInnes (25 May 2004)

some people have trouble keeping IMP‘s down. i think it‘s mostly psychological, something about it looking like dogfood or puke in a bag. i actually think the IMP meals taste really good. except for the baked cherry slab of granite of coarse (sigh).


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## sgt_mandal (25 May 2004)

The breakfast sausage and beans are NASTY!!!!!


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## Slumsofsackville (25 May 2004)

IMP are grose, I usually Starve in the field, Cant keep them down. Only The Veggitarian meals are good.


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## PTE Gruending (25 May 2004)

You can usually wheel and deal with your buddies to get the IMP that you want. I have yet to eat Beef Strogonaff! (Thank God). The IMPs that taste good, are actually really good. And there are usually enough extra‘s in a ration (combined with some snacks that you should take to the field), that you don‘t necessarily have to eat the main portion if it is something gross (ie: Salmon Filet, etc). Particularily, I like the Fruit packets and bars, and the "Petite Pain" is edible with the included jam/honey/peanut butter (errr, which ever one is not carconogenic). Kind of humourous to open up an IMP with stickers on the side saying that the spread of the week is hazardous to your health.
Best IMPs in my opinion; Chili, Turkey Stew, Green Pepper Beef.
Oh, and you know those multi-spice packs you can buy from the supermarket? DO, bring one of these to the field. Not only will you be able to eat whatever the CF throws at you, but you will be the most popular one in your section. A fellow troop on an exercise I attended last week had the foresight to bring a bottle of "Franks Redhot Sauce". This will cover the flavour of ANY crappy meal that you may get.

As has been mentioned before, you also get boxed lunches (quality may vary, where does the CF get these from anyways?). In addition to hayboxes (again, quality varies), which are a really nice treat on an exercise.


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## stukirkpatrick (25 May 2004)

Don‘t forget the wonders of ham steak...

The way I find it, IMPs always taste proportionately to how hungry you are.  Its a feast when you are in the field, and you feel you can go home and eat IMPs afterwards, but once you have alternatives again you hate them wish a passion...

Once, for fun I cooked up some of that oriental rice, on a kitchen stove, with time to cook...  It will be the last time I try that.


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## chrisf (25 May 2004)

> Originally posted by PTE Gruending:
> [qb] You can usually wheel and deal with your buddies to get the IMP that you want. I have yet to eat Beef Strogonaff! (Thank God). The IMPs that taste good, are actually really good. And there are usually enough extra‘s in a ration (combined with some snacks that you should take to the field), that you don‘t necessarily have to eat the main portion if it is something gross (ie: Salmon Filet, etc).[/qb]


This really illustrates the point here, as I love the Salmon. Wouldn‘t want to eat it for every meal, but I have no problem disposing of a couple over a weekend.

I wonder... with beef having been so cheap there for a while, did anyone in the ration production world have the fore thought to buy up enough meat to make beef steak the new ham steak?


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## Gayson (25 May 2004)

The Fruit deserts are my favorite part!

I hate the coffee though, if only the CF could get Tim Hortons to provide us with instant coffee for in the field.


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## 48Highlander (25 May 2004)

Anyone interested in starting a petition to get rid of the god**** Ham Steak and Pineapple?  I think I‘ve met only two people since I joined the forces who don‘t detest that thing.

SigOp:  Try the omelette!  The Cheese Omelette with Salsa is delicious, the one with mushrooms not so much, but in my opinon they are deffinitely the best breakfast IMP.


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## chrisf (25 May 2004)

Nope, I‘m simply refusing to eat the omlettes on the basis that it‘s eggs... that are four years old...


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## D-n-A (25 May 2004)

The IMPs arent that bad, some of them are bad, some I really enjoy.

The ham steak ones.. they just keep getting reinvented(ham steak and pineapple, ham streak and mustard), an yet none of them taste good..


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## Lexi (25 May 2004)

IMP‘S ROCK!


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## 48Highlander (25 May 2004)

Well see, it‘s not really eggs, so it‘s ok


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## D-n-A (25 May 2004)

Ah, that makes it so much better


*wonders what the h#ll he was eating*


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## Pte. Bloggins (25 May 2004)

> Originally posted by D-n-A:
> The ham steak ones.. they just keep getting reinvented(ham steak and pineapple, ham streak and mustard), an yet none of them taste good.. [/QB]


Hehe, I have yet to eat a ham dish, always managed to somehow get out of it. Plus the Beef Stroganoff is NASTY: looks AND smells like dog food (as opposed to the cheese omelette, which looks like puke but tastes like salsa; not that terrible if you‘re hungry enough.)

I always find it‘s safest to go with the pasta, there‘s not that much that can go wrong with that.


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## Cpl. Williamson (25 May 2004)

I Actually Didnt Mind the Beef Stroganoff Im Partial to Dog Food Over Puke in a Bag. 

Chicken Caccitore (sp?) is the Cats Meow


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## brin11 (25 May 2004)

Can‘t forget the field kitchens.  Most of the time they make pretty good food similar that you would find in the mess hall...especially if you‘re buddies with the cooks.  LOL

They also leave out bread, peanut butter, etc. for those on sentry at night.


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## tree hugger (25 May 2004)

My favorite is the salmon filet... no one in my section really liked it so I ate it alot!  The ham steak in mustard sauce is horrid!  I definitly recommend adding the rice packets (2/3 of it at least) to the accompaning entres.  If you‘re eating hot IMP‘s, add the petit pain to the hot water with the entres.  Makes it nice and soft!


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## atticus (25 May 2004)

very first IMP breakfast... partially cooked ham steak and raisin sauce      . I love the breakfast in the mess though. Best thing in the world. They had pretty much anything you could imagine for breakfast. It was great.


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## atticus (25 May 2004)

oh and I forgot, Just a Sig Op, I have met a couple soldiers from the British army who have served with Canada on our bases and such who all say that the CF has the best food, IMP‘s included. 
...Maybe thats why you see fat soldiers... the food is just too good to resist...


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## GGHG_Cadet (25 May 2004)

British rations taste like @$$. Do not eat them, trust me IMPs taste waaayyy better. My uncle brought some over for for me to try and I almost gagged. I‘d rather eat ham steak then British rations.


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## sgt_mandal (25 May 2004)

I don‘t know about you guys but IMP‘s are a bit like eating beans, if you know what I mean.

(beans, beans the musical fruit........)


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## scm77 (25 May 2004)

Here‘s a site with all kinds of info on IMPs.  It also has stuff about US and (shudder) British rations.  Could there be anything worse then British Army food?    

  http://www.mreinfo.com/imps.html


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## Tebo (25 May 2004)

I agree that the vegetarian meal packs far surpass the normal IMP line-up.  Hard to argue with bagel chips, vegetarian lasagna and sunflower seeds.   

However, being a vegetarian for the most part, I stand by the IMP and just suck it up when I draw my ham steak: The logistics of running the vegetarian meals around in the field are mind boggling, nevermind the angst that can be generated when everyone else suffers with a lesser meal.

I would like to see the CF incorporate a vegetarian IMP that is just thrown in the normal box along with all the rest.

I would really like to hear some comments on this happy little issue.


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## 48Highlander (25 May 2004)

Americans have that in the MRE‘s.  Something like 2 veggie meals per box.  It‘s deffinitely a good idea but don‘t hold your breath.


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## Sh0rtbUs (25 May 2004)

Im no vegetarian, but i understand where your coming from. They should incorporate at least 1 vegetarian IMP into the set, how much trouble could it be? They have those Salmon Fillet IMPS? Why not go the next step..

Who knows, mabye I‘ll like em


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## chrisf (25 May 2004)

I would imagine that somone who‘s vegetarian or who has religious requirements would get sick of the vegetarian meals pretty quick... considering EVERY time you get the accessory pack, it‘s ALWAYS the same food.

I mean, it‘s good, but still. Actually, the bagel chips are deadly...


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## atticus (25 May 2004)

> Originally posted by GGHG_Cadet:
> [qb] I‘d rather eat ham steak then British rations. [/qb]


Wow! Thats bad!


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## chrisf (25 May 2004)

Oh come on... the ham steak isn‘t that bad... hamsteak in mustard sauce is actually have decent (At least I think so... I don‘t go actively looking for it, but I don‘t complain about it when I‘ve got it).

Meatballs are still my favorite, though I usually dump four or five packets of pepper down with it.

And I noticed somthing after looking at that MRE site... all of the MREs he‘s got photographed haev a tiny bottle of Franks Redhot hot sauce... *sigh* to think I had to actually BUY a bottle to bring with me. Worth every cent though


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## Farmboy (25 May 2004)

Improvised
Meat
Products

 The food does lack, but when your wet, tired and hungry, it goes down pretty nice, even if it‘s not totaly hot.

 The bread from 1812 is a real treat though with peanut butter or jam.

 I have gotten a couple fruit bars that were rock solid.

 I was suprised at the cabbage rolls though, pretty good once you remove the cabbage.

 The mashed potatoes are edible with hot water and salt (mix the salt in with the water).

 The box lunch though, I can not stand processed cheese!! Add some lettuce, mayo and Balderson cheddar and you‘re all set!


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