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Three cheers for the red, white, and ... green? Yes, green. As America’s armed forces fight the “war on terrorism,” they are also helping to fight for good health and against cruelty to animals by distributing healthy, humane vegetarian meals.
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A survey taken after Operation Desert Storm revealed that armed forces members wanted more ethnic and vegetarian options. The Department of Defense Combat Feeding Program at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center developed vegetarian “meals ready to eat” (MRE) to feed hungry soldiers. The veggie MRE’s include such foods as pasta with vegetables in tomato sauce and black bean-and-rice burritos.
According to Judith Aylward, a registered dietitian and a food technologist with the Department of Defense Combat Feeding Program, “More and more soldiers are becoming health conscious, and even those who are not vegetarians enjoy an occasional meatless meal.”
Thanks to the vegetarian MRE’s, soldiers can enjoy tasty meals without hurting  innocent “civilians” like cows, pigs and chickens. The vegetarian MRE’s are healthier, too. Vegetarians generally have more stamina, energy and endurance than meat-eaters, and that’s especially important in combat.
The meals have been a huge hit with the soldiers who tested them. “Some of the Marines who taste-tested the pasta and vegetables with tomato sauce offering said that eating the meal was like eating at the Olive Garden,” said Aylward. “The perception that the warfighters only want meat and potatoes no longer holds true.”
Soldiers in Jerusalem, Britain and Canada are also reaping the benefits of vegetarian service meals. The IDF Nutrition division in Jerusalem introduced vegetarian battle rations after years of complaints from vegetarian soldiers. Vegetarian service members in the Royal Army, Navy, and Air Force enjoy meatless options such as lentils and tikka masala and spicy vegetable rigatoni in the “operational ration packs” given to British soldiers. Eager to meet the growing demand for vegetarian options, Canadian Forces Food Services devoted a workshop to vegetarianism at its annual conference to discuss food for Canadian troops. An estimated 10 to 15 percent of Canadian Forces members choose vegetarian meals.
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Playboy pinup Kimberly Hefner appeared in PETA’s new Uncle Sam-style advertisement, which ran in the military paper Stars & Stripes and was featured (for free!) in an article in The New York Times.
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Thora Birch, star of American Beauty and Ghost World, unveiled our new sticker and billboard declaring, “Proud to Be a Vegetarian American.”
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  Vegetarian meals, including black bean burgers, are becoming more common on U.S. Navy carrier ships. PETA staffer Hollie Kuntzman’s husband, Matt, stationed on the USS Peterson, reports that vegetarian options are available aboard his ship and that he hopes to see more during his long deployment. Says Matt, “Like my commitment to protect and fight for our country, I have a commitment to protect the animals.”
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 PETA sent 5,000 packs of vegetarian jerky to our boys and girls in blue aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt stationed in the North Arabian Sea. The scrumptious veggie jerky was donated to PETA by Turtle Island Foods (www.tofurky.com), Green Options www.vegideli.com) and Lumen (www.soybean.com) for each of the 5,000 sailors aboard the aircraft carrier, whose home port of Norfolk, Virginia, is also home to PETA’s headquarters. |
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| ©AP/Wide World Photos |
The U.S. military, the United Nations, and other food agencies have developed all-veg “humanitarian daily rations” (HDR’s) that have been airdropped to needy Afghan people. The Western high-fat, high-cholesterol diet of Big Macs, hot dogs, and cheese pizzas would be a deadly weapon if dropped to Afghan refugees. Muslims don’t eat pork and Hindus don’t eat beef for religious reasons, making vegetarian HDR’s a kinder alternative—for both people and animals.
Each HDR contains two vegetarian meals based mostly on lentils, beans, and rice and includes veggie staples like bread, a fruit bar, a fortified biscuit, peanut butter, and spices. One Afghan citizen told The New York Times that the vegetarian HDR’s are “very delicious.”
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 Individual service members have been successful in convincing the U.S. military to add vegetarian food. William Rivas-Rivas, former Navy lieutenant junior grade and surface warfare officer, now working as PETA’s Hispanic outreach coordinator, introduced his shipmates to vegetarian food during his time in the military.
For four years, William was stationed on two warships in Tokyo, Japan. He talked to hundreds of sailors about living a more compassionate lifestyle. He showed the Navy cooks how easily military meals could be made vegan. Soon, they agreed that the green beans didn’t have to include bacon, soups could be made with vegetable broth, spaghetti sauce could be meatless, and so on. They gave the salad bar a facelift and added a variety of beans. Eventually, fresh tofu made an appearance!
On William’s last night at sea, the captain ordered a vegan dinner for the entire crew of the USS O’Brien warship in his honor.
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Go vegetarian today!
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• See GoVeg.com for a free vegetarian starter kit.
• Encourage all military servicepeople to opt for vegetarian MRE’s.
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