The nutritional value of the food matters a lot. If the soldiers do not have the nutrients they need to survive in the climate that they are in or the terrain they have to go over; your going to have a lot of deaths by starvation and exhaustion. Most of the ration packs consist of about 2,800-3,000 calories per day for a soldier. The military ration packs of WWI were a older concept of canned foods. It usually consisted of “bully beef” or corned beef, mesh stew or bacon if your lucky, vegetables, and biscuits which were more like dog treats than anything a human is supposed to eat. Usually the meals did not look very appetizing because at the time we needed more money to use for weaponry and vehicles than for the food. It was usually packed into cans which weren’t the easiest things to get open with the can opener “keys.” If you were issued the Trench Ration you were in for a rough time, it was extremely heavy and most soldiers did not want it. It was most likely stored on the shelf of the trench because it was so heavy. It consisted of canned salmon, canned bully beef and canned sardines; there was a lot of food in this pack. With the Emergency Ration, it was generally used for emergencies. The Emergency Ration would consist of 3 beef cakes, bouillon powder, wheat, 3 bars of chocolate, salt and pepper. If you were issued the reserve ration you were in for some of the better food. In the Reserve Ration you would receive fresh bacon, a pound of bully beef, two cans of bread, coffee, sugar and salt. They also had the tobacco Ration; most people used cigarettes to calm themselves and for pleasure so they issued this Ration to people so they could smoke. It contained .4 ounces of tobacco and 10 cigarette rolling paper. Most of these rations were not enough to sustain them for several days but if they did have enough they were very heavy.

WWII is when the food started to get a little but better. A lot of the food started to be cooked in field kitchens and started to get “fresh.” There were a lot of different ration packs during WWII. First introduced was the “A-Ration” or “Garrison Ration” which was usually cooked in field kitchens. It consisted of a raspberry drink, cereal, muffin, jam and peanut butter, apple, salt/pepper, and some sort of sandwich based on preference. A bit different type of ration was the “B-Ration” which was canned food, prepared in field kitchens that had no need to be refrigerated. Another ration that the soldie