"An army marches on its stomach"

Original post:  Aug 12, 2015

Napoleon gave the title quote above. He knew the vital importance of supply lines in military operations. Strong sources of food and materiel are critical to the smooth function of any military.

In the nearby town of Natick, Massachusetts, there is a research lab dedicated to developing new methods of providing meals to front line troops. The Natick Soldier Center has come up with a number of innovations. You may have even tasted one of their creations without knowing it!

If you have ever had one of these (pictured below), it may have started out in that Natick research lab.

This is the McRib sandwich at McDonald's. It is usually released on a limited basis because its popularity can actually cause the price of pork to rise!

Here is a brief history of how this product is likely to have been created:

But the most interesting contender might be the fourth one: John Secrist, a food scientist at the Natick Soldier Center for Research and Development. That's the place where the US Army develops its groundbreaking food for the troops as part of itsCombat Feeding Program (you'll find more info at http://hotchow.natick.army.mil/ — that's right: hot chow). Secrist told Marx de Salcedo that in the '60s, Natick asked him and his team to develop a cheaper version of steaks and chops.

The Army then partnered with a meat flaking company in Ohio in order to break down meat and reassemble it into the meatlike blobs that are familiar today in the form of the McRib. Natick enlisted many meatpackers to do trial runs to see if the technology was viable, and as a result, it made its way to the private sector. "Denny's used our restructured beefsteak in their restaurant," Secrist said, "and McDonald's McRib is as close to our product as you can get."

The Army didn't sit in McDonald's kitchen and tell the chefs how to season their gloriously weird ribs. But Marx de Salcedo argues that they did provide the driving force to make restructured meat a commercial reality. Even Mandigo, the food scientist often credited with the McRib's technology, told Salcedo that "the military allowed us to use the processes they developed."

It may seem weird to have the military involved in food science, but there are practical implications.

"Military-funded food science has a focus on imperishability, durability, affordability, and palatability," Marx de Salcedo says. Concerns like sustainability and long-term health come after the immediate needs of soldiers.

Private companies work alongside the Army through arrangements like Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs). The Army gets staff, labs, and help developing new foods, while the private companies hope for innovations, a jump on the rest of the market, and a chance at some intellectual property rights.

That partnership has led to numerous Army-boosted innovations in long-lasting, calorically dense, cheap foods, including lunchmeat and energy bars. As a result of the Army's influence, other food goals have only been secondary concerns.

Here are some useful links:
Natick Soldier Center home page
The McRib industrial complex: how the Army made the world's weirdest meat - Vox