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Originally Posted by Raellus
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Would freeze-drying be possible or would it require too much tech?
What are your thoughts on military food, post-TDM?
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Freeze drying would require too much tech IMO. It required freezing the food to extreemly low temperatures then subjecting it to vacum to extract the ice/water. Very efficient and the stuff will last a LONG time without spoilage as long as it's kept from moisture. Relatively easily reconstitured.
One thing mentioned was LRP rations. They were dehydrated and freeze dried. You MUST add water. Do NOT make the mistake of eating the dehyd potato slices like potato chips.. know of a guy who did, then drank water... It was NOT a pretty picture as he rolled on the ground suffering severly, and had to be medivaced... (best to learn from other's mistakes eh?)
As for what rations would be after the collapse.
Yep, locally grown with potato as the staple, but they are fairly perishable and such compared to some other's, but very large yields for acerage planted usually, but more susceptible to crop failure than other crops. Turnips, carrots, onions, and other root crops. Cabbage (Chalkie loves feeding us that, or did) and other kohl crops. Legumes in peas and beans. Easy to grow and store with pretty good yields. Wheat, oats, and rye for cereals I think. You have to be very careful with the rye as it is highly suseptible to ergot.
Ergot is a fungus that grows in the head in place of a seed. They use it in medicine as a blood thinner, and wars have been lost because of it. I've read stories of the Crimean War where it was a major problem in the Russian army, effecting men and horses. Can cause blindness, limbloss, and death, a horrible prolonged process leading to the latter.
Field rations would be dehydrated/dried vegetables and fruits, nuts, dried meats (esp sausages). The quanity of cheese they can get would depend largely on how well and what kind of stock they get for milk. It's a process that takes a bit of time to get a good finished product that is storable.. ie hard cheese. Soft cheese would be consumed locally though.
Hard tack, definately.
I could see some 'country boy' finding a chicken or two and persuading his mates to keep the chickens alive rather than go right into the stew pot.. hence some fresh eggs, though not alot. (maybe average one a day for the two of them if that) Later there would be stewed chicken when they layed out. Same for a goat or cow. Squad pet??? Of course the maintenance of the goat or cow is MUCH more than a chicken that could be fed on crumbs and scratch her own if allowed to.
I envisioned in large containment areas, the large truck fields and other fields maintained by a 'labor battalion' of persons under detainment by the provost for what ever. At harvest time it would be augmented by persons from the various units.
Field kitchens and bakeries would make a resurgence most definately. IF nothing more than sheet iron wood burning stoves cobbled out of 55-gal drums. Though it would take several of them to each company sized unit.
In the days before the T-pack and when the army DID have a military mess team for each company, it was usually an NCO (E7/E6) in charge, with 2-4 cooks. The ratio was about 1 cook per 50 men assigned, and the whole mess team was about 5-7 for a company. There also used to be bakery units in the US army, but I've searched and it seems they have been 'dropped from rolls', along with several other 'useful' type units, such as the saw-mill detachment, and soon to be all rail-operation units.