Field Rations
A typical Field Ration consists of:
- An entrée or main course, typically full meals consisting of preserved and non-perishable precooked meat, vegetables, legumes, grains, rice, or staple foods.
- Side dishes or appetizers such as crackers or biscuits, spreads, pickles, or preservable salad.
- Desserts or snacks such as candy, chocolate, dried fruits, nuts, cookies, cakes, pastries, cereal bars, or energy bars.
- Drink mixes, commonly juice, powdered milk, instant coffee, instant tea, hot chocolate, energy drinks, protein drinks, or soft drinks.
- Food supplements such as condiments, chewing gum, dietary supplements, and water purification tablets.
- Tableware, typically mess kits and eating utensils.
Field rations come in different varieties for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or supper. Vegetarian, vegan, and religious diet variants may be available depending on who produced the rations. Specialized variants of field rations may exist for different environments, situations, and roles, such as cold-weather warfare, mountain warfare, jungle warfare, desert warfare, long-range reconnaissance patrols, and starship crew variants.[1]
Field rations were first implemented in mass by the Terran Republic during the First Megor Invasion, though field rations have always had a place on starships during space exploration.