Your MRE

I pack a good lunch because we pack good lunches for astronauts.

We also prepare MREs for soldiers.

Yes, I’m aware that I am neither, but I still believe I should have a good lunch.

My son has always wanted to try an MRE (Meals Ready to Eat). I think he saw some videos on YouTube that made him curious about military rations. While visiting a military museum, we bought him an MRE at the gift shop. Everyone in our family was a bit curious about how this self-heating military ration meal would work, so we observed. The package contained several small side-dish packages, a main course, and a small dessert. The package included a small pouch of magnesium-iron alloy and salt granules, which you mixed with water, triggering an immediate exothermic reaction that cooked the main course inside the box without a flame.

I didn’t have high expectations. The words field rations and delicious don’t seem to connect naturally, but what came out was beef ravioli in marinara sauce—Chef Boyardee for a soldier in the field. Yes, there was nutrition involved, but the experience was like being a kid at home, being fed by Mom. It was fun to watch.

I love good food, but if I’m being shot at or living in the vacuum of space, this would do nicely.

A soldier’s or astronaut’s work is important enough that they need a subtle but important boost of energy midway through their day. If food could carry a message, I believe the message an MRE conveys is simply this: “You are important enough that we thought of you and want you to make it back home.”

My lunch is a small reminder of my home, my kitchen, and where I come from.

My work is important because it involves human lives, and the work is more stressful than one might appreciate at first glance. When I pack it in the morning, it’s my subtle way of telling my future, hangry self that making it home is important. I am not a soldier or an astronaut; my work is not directly related to national defense or intergalactic exploration, but my life has worth, and so does yours.

Some thought should go into your lunch.

A rarely explored aspect of hospitality is showing hospitality to oneself. It’s healthy to believe that you live in a world where someone will help you, because it’s true. However, there are moments when that truth isn’t readily visible, and you’ll need to rely on yourself. I believe the genius of an MRE is that, perhaps, in a lonely moment on the field somewhere, a soldier needs encouragement, and it can come to them in the form of a meal from home.

Pack yourself a good lunch, friend. Your life and your work are that important.