Instant food from camping to crisis Meals ready-to-eat in some local plans MMM-MMM MRE

By COREY BYERS

Chicken tetrazzini, beef pot roast, penne pasta with vegetable sausage--all delectable-sounding dishes, to be sure.

However, if you're in a state of dire emergency, you may be eating one of these from a bag, depending on where you live.

Regionally, localities don't tend to stockpile meals ready-to-eat, or MREs, for big emergencies, but they are an option.

Who actually keeps them on hand depends on the city or county.

King George County's Fire and Rescue Chief David Moody said he has between 1,000 and 1,500 meals in storage.

Moody said he has a mixture of MREs and heater meals, which come with a heater.

Moody said they'd be distributed during "large, significant emergencies."

This includes when people are displaced from their homes or widespread power outages prevent people from acquiring food.

County school cafeterias would serve food in such emergencies, too.

Moody said schools would have the proper staff, equipment and food on site to serve many people.

"The MRE or heater meal is just something to get those people by until a more permanent type of food is established," he said.

Chief Edwin Allen of the Fredericksburg Fire Department said the city does not keep a supply of MREs, mainly because it doesn't have the storage space.

Allen said the city could order MREs through the state. However, for a mass feeding, his department would work with the Red Cross to serve meals at places like James Monroe High School.

Meals ready-to-eat may come in handy when a kitchen isn't available for cooking in.

"If you get them in there somehow, you don't need infrastructure to prepare them like you do for [other food]," said Lee Ferrell, president of Long Life Food Depot in Richmond, Ind.

Ferrell has sold MREs for 24 years.

His company takes military-grade meals and sells them to individuals, businesses and government agencies.

People will purchase the meals for various outdoor trips, such as camping or hunting.

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management recommends having three days of food supplies stored for times of crisis; food that does not require electricity for storage or preparation.

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Chicken and dumplings, cheese tortellini, marble pound cake--forget your grandmother's kitchen, you can get these hermetically sealed to go!

Lee Ferrell, president of Long Life Food Depot in Richmond, Ind., said meals ready to eat have changed over the past two decades. Nowadays, aside from the typical hardy American meal, such as beef stew, Southwestern and Cajun fare are parts of the MRE selection.

Below are some dishes available on Ferrell's Web site, longlife food.com:

BREAKFAST: Cheese omelet with vegetables, hash browns with bacon

LUNCH: Beef enchilada, chili macaroni, veggie burger in barbecue sauce

DINNER: Smoked salmon fillet, ham and shrimp jambalaya, vegetable manicotti

SNACKS: Cinnamon scones, carrot cake, brownies, cherry blueberry cobbler

MREs can be purchased from various Internet sites. They also are available locally at Corky's Fredericksburg Military Surplus at 921 Caroline St. in downtown Fredericksburg.

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management has launched a new Web site to assist families and businesses in disaster planning. The site includes information for people with special needs: readyvir ginia.gov.

--Corey Byers

Date published: 9/9/2007

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