Madalena Almanza: Feeding American Heroes

European american settlers pushed west into undiscovered and untainted lands to create an improved lifestyle much like American nutritionists have pushed the boundaries of food to improve our American heroes ability to preform their jobs and make a better life for them. New methods of feeding our american heroes, including soldiers and astronauts have shaped American history for the better.

Can meat unify an army? This question proved to be yes during the second world war when over 150 million pounds of spam had been shipped and served sometimes three times a day by the US military. As Bruce Heydt puts it, "they had shared the danger of combat and the ever-present threat of more Spam." Spam consists of pork shoulder, ham, salt, water, potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrite and was introduced into the war for it's affordability, long self-life, and easily transportable. A can of spam provided around 1054 calories and 44 grams of protein, giving a soldier a meal with little hassle, minimal cost, and lots of energy to protect their country (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)). Along with its practical use, Spam also provided soldiers with a lot of laughter as well, lighting up the war scene. Referred to as "mystery meat", Spam to this day remains part of urban legends and jokes. 

 "An army is a big thing and it takes a great many eatables and not a few drinkables to carry it along" said a Union Officer in October of 1863. The US army ration system went through many revisions to adapt to the conditions of the war and give it's soldiers the best they could. Chocolate is not something people would normally think of as part of a fighting solider diet but military chocolate has been a part of the ration system since 1937 and used to give soldiers a quick energy boost and a moral boost as well. These chocolate bars are easy to carry and could withstand high temperatures . Along with the practical, military chocolate provided comfort to the American soldier because it was as if they were home eating regular Hershey's chocolate bar in their regular everyday life, not in combat away from home. The first chocolate bar that was made could withstand 120°F and three of these bars provided a soldier with 1,800 calories. Modern day military chocolate has been improved to withstand 140°F and the taste has become more appealing as well (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_chocolate). 

Although you may think that astronauts don't expend a lot of energy sitting in a shuttle up in space, they do and the food they eat has to not only provided a balanced nutrition but also be easy and safe to store, prepare, and consume in space with limited tools. Americans have continued to innovate and create new foods that are easy and accessible and the most extreme example of this is space food. In earlier space missions, like the Project Mercury (1959-1963), Astronauts were having to try and eat weightless food, squeeze their food from tubes, and eat their food from freeze-dried powder forms. Obviously they found this very unappetizing and improvements quickly came. Foods and drinks started to fly up dehydrated and the only thing astronauts had to do was add water and they can enjoy up to 70 different meal options. One of the most interesting inventions was food in cube form. In fact, the first food that was eaten on the moon was a bacon cube. The comfort of astronauts who are far, far away from home is made better with better food and enhances their ability to do their job.

Food has a bigger impact on our lives than we realize and a big factor of American success compared to others in the world has been because of how we have feed our American heroes. In order to preform the best they can, American heroes, like soldiers and astronauts, need energy and food that not only sustains them but can adapt well to their environments.