Show Men in U. U S. S Army Best Fed in Nation With Meals Carefully Planned by Experts I By HOPE nOPE CHAMBERLIN Released by Western Newspaper Union FT SLOCUM S L 0 CUM N. N Y Y- Y Americas America's rapidly growing army will be on display April Apri 7 I as Army Day is observed throughout the nation Whether er visiting civilians know itar not they will be watching the best fed army in the world They will see men whose diet is watched so carefully that th t even the number of cal calories ones ories aries aries' and vitamins they eat cat cat are planned far in advance Uncle Sam feeds its soldiers bet- bet tern 72 per pcr cent of ot American families lies ies are fed these are the words of ot Sergt Sergi Thomas L. L Delvecchio Delvecchio chio chlo boss of ot the U. U S S. Army School for Bakers and Cooks at Ft Slocum N N. Y Y And he should know Proof of ot statement comes from MaJ Ma j Paul Lo Lo- Logan Lo- Lo Logan gan an food tood expert of ot the army's quartermaster quartermaster quartermaster corps who states emphatically emphatIcally emphatIcally that the army is and will con con- continue continue continue to be the best fed ted group of ot our population In IIi averaging the analyses made of ot army messes throughout the country it was found that the Amer Amer- American AmerIcan Amerlean ican lean soldier consumes calories a. a a day as compared d to the of ot the average American In vitamins the soldier averages units of ot vitamin A 1173 of ot vitamin B B 46 milligrams of ot vitamin C and 23 milligrams of ot vitamin all all In greater quantities than the average American i Served Nutritious Food Come and get it to the soldier of ot 1941 means a plateful of good palatable nutritious food To food wholesalers and government men it means m ans hard work behind the scenes Before conscription when the army had bad no more than men split into given units the food buy food buy buy- ing lag problem was simple The odd camp quartermasters went per per- personally personally to local markets But the problem changed over over- overnight night Not only will the army short short- shortly ly have a million and a half halt men mento mento mento to feed but the number of men in each camp will be tremendous Camps of men require more food than cities of ot equal size The army will be about the biggest food f od buyer and distributor in the country exceeded in size only by A P and perhaps one or two other chains On certain staple items such as canned goods army amy purchases may maywell maywell well amount to from 10 to 15 per percent percent percent cent of ot total production Food or- or ci ii f rs that used to require quire r than less less than than- carload shipments will call for the shipment of many solid carloads So independent Ind local buying is out of the question and centralized pur pur- purchasing purchasing purchasing chasing is the only logical answer r Regional Markets l New York offices will buy all sug suf- sugar ar coffee tea spices and other manufactured items Chicago will wi wib bUy b y all canned vegetables c canned nned meats cereal flour and similar foodstuffs produced on a nation nation- nationwide nationwide wide basis San Francisco will wi buy canned and dried fruits salmon and other West coast produce By May I 1 the date when the army will start issuing rations to local quartermasters in actual food rath rather er than cash these new super offices will be ready to take over all con con- contract contract tract letting according to Douglas MacKeachie food purchase co When it comes to buying food the army Is far tar more finicky than the average housewife Old army rules read that a packer could deliver on onan onan onan an army contract no lamb Iamb weighing more than 45 pounds and the sol sol- soldiers soldiers' soldIers soldIers' diers' diers mess tables used to be guard guard- guarded ed against all but steer beef beet But that's all changed now Because the army cant can't be guided by what the book says but by what Y f a t tL L p N x t K h. 1 I kitchen patrol ain aint ain t what it to 0 be These giant g spud peelers can each cach peel bushel lei a of potatoes potatoe a minute q q r rif if Y df Eien though meals arc now nolO scientifically planned by experts army cools cooks I look the same as they did back in 17 This Th field kitchen l. l staff is hard at work preparing for fOT mess mes because the soldiers will I ill probably pro ably be very tery hungry I the market offers lambs up to 60 pounds will be acceptable until April 30 when the new group Is well along Heifer Helter meat will be accept accept- acceptable acceptable acceptable able for boned frozen field supplies Smaller Cans Used The army has also stepped down Its Ideas on can sizes and will here here- hereafter hereafter hereafter after buy some of its spiced pork produces such as Spam and Prem In n the ounce 12 cans of ot retail trade Instead of holding hold ng doggedly to only those cans large enough to feed a battalion Also six ounce cans of ot emergency rations will be bought in large arge quantities Soldiers generally get meat for or five dinners five suppers and four breakfasts a week Allowances for forthe forthe forthe the noon meal alone average around one half pound per man more man more meat than the civilian ordinarily engulfs s no matter how prosperous The foregoing facts are probably adequate to convince the reader re der that military experts recognize the Im Im- Importance Importance importance of ot good food in maintaining a high esprit de corps morale and efficiency of an an n army Without good food and nutrition all other prepa- prepa preparation preparation ration no matter how car carefully fully planned will not be brilliantly or efficiently executed The collapse of Germany in iri 1918 was partially due to malnutrition of the he German soldier the rout of ot the Italians in o in October 1917 has been traced to the drastic reduction in the Italian army ration put into effect the proceeding Feb Febi mary similarly the defeat of ot th the British at Gallipoli In the Darda Darda- Dardanelles Dardanelles Dardanelles nelles campaign of 1916 1915 has been attributed to the failure taiJ re of mind nerve and muscle caused by rations so unbalanced as to permit a high percentage of ot both beri ber beri berl and nd scurvy Aware of ot the importance of ot food the quartermaster corps directly responsible for providing food and plenty lenty of it has efficient personnel highly trained in the science of nu nu- nutrition nutrition nutrition inspection and preparation of f food Maintain Cooking School Because there has been difficulty in the past in obtaining enough good cooks the army even even maintains cooking schools one of ot which is lo lo- located located lo- lo located in every army corps area whose facilities may be severely tested ested by the rapid growth of our citizen army The best cooks it is isaid said aid are Negroes Frenchmen and Italians The ration food provided for one man for one day being used by our citizen army for its year one-year of ot training raining Is called the Garrison ra- ra tion ion It consists of 39 items such as 10 ounces of beef beet and 8 ounces of other meats 10 ounces of ot potatoes and 11 ounces of ot other fresh vege- vege vegetables vegetables tables ables 12 ounces of ot flour 1 li ounces of rolled oats and a little more than 10 0 ounces of rice and dried beans 20 ounces of ot butter 1 egg 1 Hs ifs ounces of ot lard 8 ounces of ot fresh milk and 10 lOot of evaporated 5 ounces of sugar 5 ounces of fruit 20 2 of coffee and smaller amounts of ot va va- various various va- va various rious others such as jams jellies peanut butter and condiments The shipping weight of ot this food is 5 5 pounds every day for each man The cost a day for a mU- mU million lion and a half halt soldiers This Garrison ration however is not limited to these 39 items which might become monotonous This is prevented by a system of ot substitution substitution tion Ion which permits the mess officer to substitute other Items In the same general class of ot foods of about equal nutritive value That Is in m place of the 10 ounces of ot beef each day he may substitute an equal amount of lamb mutton veal liver or pork Latest news for army diets is the plan for feeding soldiers bread forti fort fied fled by the morale building morale morale-bul ding B vita vita- vitamins vitamins vitamins mins which authorities claim will make them better fighters Strain on body and nerves which modern modem warfare brings about with Its lightning speed wind whirl dev dev- devastation devastation devastation and shattering nerve-shattering ma machines machines machines chines causes army nutritionists to feel that soldiers rs must be fed not only enough food of ot the right kind but enriched foods Dehydrated foods are also under under- undergoing undergoing undergoing going tests These foods occupy little lIttle lit lIt- tle tie space and therefore help the quartermaster corps in its continual battle to ship as much food in as little space as possible Soldiers re re- recently recently re- re recently ate a test dinner prepared entirely from dehydrated foods ex ex- except except except for the meat and gravy The menu included cream of ot tomato soup roast beef beet with brown gravy mashed potatoes creamed carrots cole vole slaw cranberry jelly apple and pumpkin pie A pound of ot cranberry flakes gross gr ss weight expands to serve soldiers whereas a pound of canned cranberry jelly represents only G servings Food value of the dehydrated preparations is apparently equal to that of canned foods but tests are arenow arenow arenow now being conducted to obtain ac ac- accurate ac- ac accurate curate information as to the vitamin and mineral values that the dried foods contain All this planning is a far tar cry from the meager unbalanced meals fed ted the Colonial Army And it proves that those in command are leaving rio jio their ston their effort to serve In American Army camps everywhere the finest mess messon messon messon on earth |