A Qualitative Study of Soldier Perceptions of the Relative Importance of MRE Portion Size and Variety

Abstract

Several focus groups and interviews were conducted with 95 military subjects from Ft. Bliss, Biggs Army Airfield, and Fort Leonard Wood during 1997 to understand how soldiers perceive Meal, Ready-to-Eat portion size and MRE variety and to begin to determine what types of trade offs soldiers are willing to make between these two MRE characteristics. This study was carried out as part of a larger project whose overall goal is to reduce the cost of and the waste associated with MREs. One approach to accomplishing this was to manipulate both the portion size and variety of the MRE. Based on previous data, it was hypothesized that soldiers would want greater variety in the MRE; therefore, portion sizes might be decreased. The current findings suggest something quite different.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA365984

Entities

People

  • C. Degraaf
  • F. M. Kramer
  • J. L. Johnson
  • L. L. Lesher
  • Roy Bell

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army
  • Beverages
  • Commerce
  • Condiments
  • Consumers
  • Cost Reductions
  • Costs
  • Food
  • Frequency
  • Hypotheses
  • Meals
  • Military Personnel
  • Military Police
  • Perception
  • Personnel Management
  • Security
  • Surveys

Readers

  • Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Engineering.
  • Gender and Food Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design