Today, meals ready to eat or MREs are popular for outdoor use, camping trips, hikes and for emergency situations. These are fully prepared meals that are self-contained in pouches that only need to be opened to heat and be eaten. These convenient meals remain fresh for years making them an excellent item to have for disaster preparedness. The history of these meals begins with the US Military. The meals were not tested officially until the year 1983 when the MREs were given to the infantry as the sole means of food.
