The lack of spices is to accomodate every culture this may be presented to. The lack of additional spices is to allow more food to be in the MRE. The two strawberry jams, you can use it for making strawberry tea or you can add it to one of the bean dishes, same with the sunflower butter it can be added to a bean dish to make it more creamy.
The requirement for shelf stability, protein, vegetarian, halal and kosher pretty well limits them to bean menus. I have the (2019?) HDRs that include all 5 menus. My bean menus are decently tasty with my favorite being the Lentil Stew. They all have kind of a paprika flavor which is pretty interesting at first taste but would definitely be fatiguing. But it would absolutely keep you alive and enegized. The sweet side on several of mine are fig newtons. Again with that sort of mediterranean thing. Then mine have peanut butter and jam and some kind of toaster pastry. They would certainly be welcome in a pinch and even a bit beyond a pinch when you just need food. I would hate to be downwind of any camp or shelter serving these exclusively!
Bruh he got that southern draw aint nothing wrong wit what he said!! We all talk and walk differently thats what makes unique. You probably from the north and aint never heard a southern accent. Come down Georgia and experience all we have to offer and our delicious southern food and culture.
Umm..... I hate to tell you, but..... The bean salad was not meant to be heated. It was meant to be eaten at room-temperature. The taste may have been affected when you heated it up. Good review though.
I 100% agree with your opinion on these. Keeping their purpose in mind, the menus that I have had were better then expected. I haven't come upon the sunflower butter yet, but have about 10 of these to get to still 😕, including the older one that you sent me (ty). Great vid brother.
True , but if this is a case of Ameriguil , its all menu A. Sopaco is B, the elusive Wornick HDR is menu C. Ive bought 3 cases labeled as Wornick by sellers only to receive Sopaco every time. Still, they make for a decent lunch or meal when stuck in trafic on a swamp bridge for 4-6 hours lol.
Ordered one of these on Ebay once, jot bad but I do with they’d came with the heater. I mostly had bean and lentil dishes but they were tasty for what they were, variety would have been nice but I’d be happy woth them were I starving.
@@MultiMagnum62 yeah. Part of the fun hauling tankers in the winter. Trailers have to be washed between each use, then get parked outside in to cold. Brake pads freeze to drums. No biggie lol
love this video as it is quite rare, but the level of anxiety i get when you say "humanitalian ration" gets me shaking. keep posting man love your videos
I get these from the food bank. I have been off work for a year. I get different numbers. Should I put them on You Tube ? I have 2 right now. Maybe I'll open tomorrow and the kids can eat them
I made the same mistake you did. I saw the cheap price for a case and thought, "why not?" I found out why not, just as you did. Never had so much gas in my life. They need to include a roll of Tums with every meal. I can't say it was the worst thing I've ever eaten, but I only bought it once. I suppose, though, if you are in a disaster, any food is better than no food. I did like the cookies.
Nice review. I liked the sunflower butter and smoothie additions. I was tempted to get a case of HDRs but beans, peas and lentils are high laxative foods so you see them in very limited quantities used in MREs and IMPs. Nice gift to give to someone. Lol You eat and are empty again. Is it just me that sees the humor in this.
To be fair, for what these cost here in the US nowadays, these are a frigging deal (for emergency food)! If I was in a compromised part of the world and just trying to not die - these would be wonderful! Also - these are better tasting than some USA "war fighter" MREs I've had recently.
I have quite a few of these. We never opened them. Maybe I'll film it with the kids. See what kids think of them and if they will eat them. I have the new #2 and new #5 . The latest year. Just curious if he's done any with kids? I'd like to see the reactions.
Honestly, after eating this menu on a camping trip, I've got to say I disagree. It was pretty great, and the only thing I needed to add was coffee. I had extra seasonings with me but didn't feel they were really needed. Still prefer the barley stew.
Beans are protein and fiber. I have been in several third world countries and many people there, even non-refugee residents, that would love to have a case of these 2 menu rations. When they look at one of these rations I am sure they don't give a hoot in hell about the lack of choice! They are in a real survival mode. Whether it is 'tasty' enough is a non-issue. These rations were not put together to appeal to the taste of American survivalists.
It would be pretty hard to produce a ration that was nutricious, " halal, kosher, and vegetarian," without beans. It's hard to get a vegetarian protein source that isn't beans.
My problem with them is that said Menu 1234 and 5 but they all came with pretty much the same food items and every single side was a cinnamon pop tart and an oatmeal And a shortbread cookie literally in every single one But luckily I eat them at home I eat them for enjoyment not because I have to survive so I usually add meat and different flavorings
Its a shame you only got 2 menus in that case. I guess they are trying to make food that appeals to many different taste pallets so they can be used in many different countries. As long as its filling I suppose that's the important issue. Not great for reviewers though lol. Great review :)
I noticed that they changed this meal over time. I had the menu list that was older, which said flatbread etc. But it isn’t the same and I sure hope it’s not that bad! Because I have a menu 1 I’m supposed to be reviewing (if I get my upload working) and they are all vegetarian and I was really hoping they were pretty good. I have tasted the shortbread cookie from them before and I know that’s good. These should contain beverages somehow. Clean water is hard to find in the places these are dropped. I wish they had some kind of already drinkable beverage
Great video your good at this, a friend of mine gave me one, but mostly I wanted to see what my tax money was buying. Do you have a Chinese humanitarian ration or a humanitarian ration from any other country.
I'm pretty sure America is the only country in the world that has such a huge program. There are some other nations that do something similar on a smaller scale. Russia has supposedly done them before.
I understand why these are made, but they should only be purchased as struggle food. When I was even more broke than I am now I bought cases of these and seasoned with bullion. I am debatably still alive
No drinks or FRH because in a Humanitarian Crisis access to water to reconstitute things or heat your meal might be hard to come by or not available at all, so everything has to be able to be eaten out of the package. All MRE's are fully cooked already anyways. However, warm would be better than cold for taste.
When I was in the military in 1980s I ate many canned C rations that the box they came out of dated back to the late 1940's, I would have those anytime, much better quality and taste with little prep time than any type of meal they have come up with since then and came with 12 different meals to a case.
Just wish it was a little closer to an actual meal. When you "list it" and don't "look" at it, it becomes clear. Cracker...cookie....cookie.....pop tart, and finally 2 pouches of rice and vegetable. The majority isn't a meal but a bakery of deserts. Just saying.
I just got some 2019 production date from Ebay and they were compromised. They had a musty smell when opened and the condiment package was moist with the Match staple rusted. This happened with both cases I ordered. Luckily the seller gave me a refund. Make sure you open and inspect a couple meals.
RR, I have only tried one of these, and, it was no where as bland, as most describe. Granted, it did need just A little help, however, no worse than low sodium rations to me. Not exactly exciting, but, not bad. From reviews, I expected much worse. Mine was menu 2. I forget manufacturer? Sorry you were not impressed friend. Peace, John. Drop me A line sometime.
Yes, they don't taste the best. Yes, menu fatigue will happen if you eat them often. make sure you recognize their role and the fact that they were designed to help less privileged men, women, and children who could have lost their whole lives due to natural disaster, war, etc... If you're going to review these things from a consumer perspective, (99% of reviews) then make sure you disclaimer the video These are great for prepping. They suit the diets of most people and are healthier than regular mres so long term consumption is safer
Complete pity that they don't have at least some drink powders with dry cookie and crackers. When you think the same company likely fills a pallet with the same boxes, you are looking at getting day and days of the same menu with each pallet. Sure, you'll be fed but you'll hate America because of it. lol
@@thesheriff5091 so just to clarify my comments they are NOT from a person undergoing hardship, starving, displaced etc. I’ve yet to taste an HDR ( Twofer Tuesday coming up ) so I’m speaking strictly from the perspective of a ration reviewer. As I have stated more than a few times in my own reviews your mileage may vary as cold, tired, wet and hungry can do wonders to improve your appetite, or not. Thanks for the comment though.
It makes me so happy that America does make these. Im Canadian and I have seen many different rations spanning over 100 years and I have never seen a Canadian humanitarian ration and that bothers me. God bless America for doing that
@@ReadinessRations My typo has nothing to do with the question. You don't SPEAK typos 🤣..... My question was clear , do you have a speech impediment? I did while growing up ,I also spoke Southern.
Most reviewers are judging these by American standards. Most are probably also meat eaters. Don't lose perspective that these are vegetarian. They are also meant to be somewhat bland so as not to overwhelm a malnourished person. Too much richness at once can cause vomiting.
@@ReadinessRations They are a food gift from the people of the Unites States of America. Says so right on the package. Glad to hear you are so concerned with providing a fine dining experience to starving foreigners.
