I Hate Army Chow
Field Ration Type D; the so called 'iron ration' was made up of three bars of fortified chocolate, a total of 12 ounces. This was intended for no more than a single day of use if no other ration was available.
Field Ration Type K; was also developed for the individual soldier but was better packaged and had as many as seven menus.
World War II was the first war that had anything like the C or K rations available to the soldier.
As late as World War I, rations were still provided as (relatively) fresh food that had to be prepared at some sort of kitchen facility. If kitchen facilities were not available, it became very difficult for soldiers to feed themselves, even if the food was provided to them. The authorized ration had not changed significantly since the Revolutionary War, consisting of about one pound of meat and the same of bread or flour. Salt, pepper, sugar, beans and coffee were also provided in varying amounts at different times.
A man who got his authorized ration was eating fairly well. Soldiers on the march, going into or coming out of battle very often did not get their ration, however. To take the place of the authorized ration, hard biscuits and salt meat were substituted. Similar items were issued to armies from many countries and for the same reasons. Better dry bread and rancid meat than no food at all.
Though the hard tack and salt pork or beef was designed to withstand long storage, they did not stand up to the demands made on them. The meat became rancid; the hard tack was the home of weevils. Soldiers often subsisted on this poor diet for weeks at a time.
In even earlier times, many armies lived off the land. Grains were either bought, captured from the areas the army traveled through or shipped to the army from a secure area. Meat traveled with the army, on the hoof, cared for by soldier herdsman. Garrison troops grew their own food. All units supplemented their diet with wild game of all types. http://www.roman-empire.net/army/army.ht... For centuries, soldiers had this same responsibility, to provide at least some of their own food. Even U.S. soldiers on the 1870s frontier received issues of seeds to take the place of issue rations.
Providing soldiers with the needed body fuel was extremely difficult. 3600 k/calories was needed for an average soldier every
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