MREs stands for Microbes-Ready-To-Eat.

For nearly four decades the US military on overseas combat missions in far-flung locations have survived on Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs) ration packs. Soldiers and Marines in the field tend to describe MREs as Meals Rarely Edible and Meals Rejected by Everyone. Now the Pentagon’s research and development agency, Darpa, has come up with a new concept for future wars , Microbes Ready to Eat – still MREs but without all the packaging and cost of delivery, and created on site. The new-style MREs would be produced by converting oxygen, carbon dioxide, water and electricity into microbes that would then create food molecules, to include proteins, fats, carbohydrates and “dietary fibre”. Although it sounds like a feast of unpalatable ingredients, Darpa is promising that the food molecules will have various different flavours and textures added to make the Microbes Ready to Eat tasty, even delicious. Under a programme codenamed Cornucopia, Darpa has asked companies and research organisations to come up with ideas to enable food production on demand and on site in order to cut costs of food transportation. “Cornucopia seeks to produce from air, water and electricity a range of microbial-origin nutritious foodstuffs that taste good and offer complete nutrition for military applications ranging from troops in austere locations to civilians and troops during humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief operations,” Molly Jahn, programme manager in Darpa’s defence sciences office, said. She admitted it was a “bold leap” but recent advances including in microbiology and genetic sequencing had made the concept realistic. Eating microbes is nothing new. Darpa said humans eat trillions of microbes every day. For thousands of years mankind has used yeasts, moulds and bacteria to make food products such as bread, yoghurt and cheese. Several companies have recently begun developing food made by microbes to try and reduce reliance on the land for food production and to cut greenhouse gas emissions arising from livestock farming. However, the Pentagon’s requirement for reliable meal supplies for troops overseas is so huge that Darpa wants to devise a transportable food-creation system that will meet the needs of potentially tens of thousands of servicemen and women. Darpa said military deployments around the world involved lengthy, costly and complex logistics, including tons of food to sustain troops over weeks and months. Developing food production on site, Darpa said, would reduce the logistical burden and guarantee meals for troops for an indefinite period of time “provided there is sufficient water and energy”. Current-day MREs which come in thick pouches are made for US military personnel who are serving on operations too far from field kitchens where troops can enjoy a full range of cooked food in air-conditioned tented dining halls. They have also been sent in huge quantities to victims of humanitarian disasters to help sustain them with instant food. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991 when a US-commanded coalition force defeated Saddam Hussein’s troops who had seized control of Kuwait, American soldiers and Marines had to eat cold MREs for up to 60 days. After many complaints, the Pentagon produced special food ration heaters to make sure the troops could eat hot MREs. While the food variations developed significantly over the years, to include pepperoni pizza, boneless pork chops with noodles and burgers, American troops in war zones often tried to swap their MREs for the British equivalents which they decided were more edible.