Hi all,



Has anyone ever experienced or know of experiences of vegetarians in the army? Is it possible to have a career as a serving member of the military and still keep a vegetarian lifestyle? I've recently applied and would love to join, but have not been able to deduce whether vegetarian military field rations are available. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Depends on what armed services and which country , some get catered for very well , some struggle , going by the messages that appear here on VBs



Here is a link that might help .....might be beast to email the CAF and see what they say .



http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/Commun/...ng.asp?id=2700



Another recent addition to the IMP menu is vegetarian meals that are Kosher and Halal certified. There are four vegetarian entrée choices bought from a US company called My Own Meal. Because the vegetarian meals were meeting the requirements of the religious demand, we decided to start with vegetarian meals that are distributed to all three groups, says Ms. Bélanger-Drapeau. With more people becoming aware of ethnic foods and preferences changing, she says the food industry has a direct influence on combat rations.

Thanks for the info...would you happen to know if you have to claim to be vegetarian for religious reasons or can you say it's a lifestyle preference?

Wouldn't have a clue Natalgator , I see what you are asking . What is it for you ? religious or lifestyle preference ? .

Then send an email accordingly and see what the response is . Just to feel the waters out .

In the US Military, Vegetarian Field Rations were introduced in 1996. To get these you just have to ask (or trade,) as most don't like them anyways. Keep in mind that these are designer meals, 2-3 of these a day will give you all the calories, vitamins, protein, etc needed to remain healthy in a high stress environment.



The Navy is a little harder, being as you get your food from a mess, rather then a prepackaged meal (made by scientists to be as efficient as possible.) You have to make some educated decisions. If you are lacto-ovo, you can use eggs as a protein source (they usually carry no high protein fruits/vegetables/nuts,) if not you should bring a protein source, like soy shakes.



I would say that as a Vegetarian (lacto-ovo), you could make it just fine in the US military. As a Vegan, there would be FAR too many challenges, and it would not be worth it. Also many of the uniforms items are non Vegan (leather, wool, etc.) As a Vegan you would be unable to get proper nutrition in an emergency (as you cannot even eat Vegetarian rations,) I would recommend against the military if you are Vegan.

A little research and I found that the Canadian Army uses IMPs (Individual Meal Packs) of these 3 are Vegetarian (and ironically Kosher.) Each IMP has 3600 calories and meets Canada's nutrition requirements.

Might want to check with the woman who does the blog A Veg*n for Dinner. She's in Canada and has some affiliation with their military.



http://aveganfordinner.blogspot.com/

Yep.



Each MRE provides around 1200 calories.



Great if you are walking miles with a 75 lb pack on your back, but probably not the best choice for an average person's three meals a day.