Funny Business: November

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"I'll trade you my lemon pound cake

for a..."The MRE - Meal Ready to Eat

By Neil Michel
Living without electricity is something most Americans have experienced for hours, or maybe a day. But when you’re facing the prospect of no electricity for weeks, like the residents of rural Louisiana and Mississippi experienced in the wake of the hurricane, having a reliable source of nonperishable food is the difference between living and dying.
    The MRE isn’t just for refugees, either. Tens of thousands of the self-contained government meals are also being fed to aid workers, police and medical personnel, and National Guard units.
    A sure sign that the military MRE has come a long way since the days of saltines and sardines.
    All the meals come with a dessert item generally described as “pound cake.” The cake comes in various flavors, such as pumpkin and chocolate.
    The dessert item is often the most popular piece in the MRE, but finding a piece of lemon pound cake in your MRE is a little like winning the lottery for National Guard troops stationed in the New Orleans area. The prized lemon cake has become a form of currency.
    Even troops who don’t eat sweets have developed an eye for MREs that may contain lemon cake since one serving of the lemon cake has been known to fetch a pack of cigarettes, a main entrée from another MRE, or even changes in assignment.
    “It’s gotten to the point where if you get a lemon cake, you seriously think about saving it so you can trade up for something you really want,” says one guardsman who asked not to be identified. “Sometimes we trade for food, sometimes we trade for favors.” 

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