- From questionnaires completed by the occupants (100 adult males), a "discomfort index" relating to many aspects of shelter life was calculated. The wheat ration ranked well down on the list; it was considered less objectionable than lack of water for cleanliness, crowded conditions, lack of seating facilities, noise, the milk-peanut ration, boredom, sleeping conditions, and the ventilation and temperature. Most of the comments on the food in general concerned a desire for more and hotter coffee and some kind of fruit fresh, canned, or dried. The adverse comments on the wheat ration were related to expedient substitutes required by the earliness of the test which preceeded most of the developmental work on the wheat wafer. For example, the small cans of boiled wheat were inconvenient to open bulk or semi-bulk packaging is envisoned for the wheat wafers; high moisture content of the boiled wheat reduced the effectiveness of the hot topping to heat the serving the dry wheat wafers will have low heat capacity and will be well heated by a hot sauce or gravy; and the complaint of "too much wheat, not enough topping" may have been due to the cold wheat problem or to inadequate receipe testing. - Shelter habitability test July 1960 At the time of the second test, development of the wheat wafers had progressed to a point where one-half of the cereal could be presented in the form of wheat wafers. The other half of the cereal component was in the form of dry, cracked, puffed bulgur kernels, which had been blended with the binding components of the wafers but not pressed into wafer form. (The basic idea for this shelter ration is that pressed wafers could be used either in whole form or crumbled to combine with other foods.) Time and equipment did not allow production of enough wafers for exclusive use. The wafers were served with a spread of peanut butter or jam, and the coarse meal (as described above) was used with milk and sugar as a breakfast cereal and with hot soup, sauce or other topping for lunch and dinner main course. Table 13 gives the detailed menu for five days. It was necessary to simulate some of the toppings that are envisioned for the cereal-based ration because no product development work on this part of the menu has been authorized. The concept of a cereal-based ration for shelters has been further strengthened by this test. The ration satisfied hunger and the 100 shelter occupants (adult males) all felt in good health throughout the 5-day test. The chili con carne and spaghetti sauce toppings were the most popular and the beef gravy was liked least. Most occupants ate the cereal promptly before it soaked up the sauces, but if the mixture were allowed to stand a little while it became a fairly soft gruel which small children, the toothless, or the aged could eat. The shelter manager has said that he believes this "hot topping" idea is the best that could be done in the way of serving hot foods in mass shelters and, further, that a completely cold diet would be quite unsatisfactory. In the questionnaire completed at the end of the shelter stay, nine people out of the 100-man group ranked the food as the worst feature of shelter life, but when asked to suggest diet changes only 4 felt strongly enough about it to suggest specific changes. Of these, 2 wanted more food and 2 wanted more variety. Specific criticisms of the cereal were concerned with the textural quality of the unpressed cereal. Pressing of the wafers allows a permeation of the binding material into the grain; this improves textural quality and makes the product easier to eat and therefore more acceptable. The wafer form is preferred to the loose cereal, too, because of its greater bulk density which saves storage space, though this may not be a critical factor. TABLE 13 Menus Parks Air Force Base Shelter Test July 1960 Breakfast (every day) Coffee 1 cup (Use approximately 1/4 cup for cereal) Wheat wafers Cereals 2 1/4 cup Sugar 1 tbsp. for cereal plus 1 tsp. for coffee In TheThere were certain inconveniences connected with the mixing and handling of the toppings. These could be largely overcome if it were possible to work out improved products and packages. dividual toppings could be packaged as units of a size suitable for preparation of one meal for any predetermined number of occupants. An extremely simple system for the toppings could consist of blending a topping from a stock of dehydrated chicken or beef bouillon and several flavoring adjuncts such as chili powder, dehydrated spaghetti sauce, dried onions, mushrooms and other vegetables. Many combinations would be possible. The general acceptability by this group of healthy adult males of the cereal-based ration using compressed wheat wafers has been established. Nothing encountered in the test leads to cost expectations different from those indicated in Chapter 6 for the cereal-based ration. Shelter habitability test, November 1960 Another shelter test has been conducted, but data from it have not yet been fully evaluated. Inasmuch as the population in this test differed greatly from those in the earlier tests, preliminary observations are worth noting here. The earlier tests had involved only men, chiefly volunteers from NRDL and prisoners from a minimum security prison camp. In the present test, a group of 99 men, women, and children occupied the shelter at Parks Air Force Base for 48 hours. There were 51 adults (21 to 68 years), 19 teenagers, and 29 children (2 months to 12 years). Food was served three times each day and there were two "coffee breaks" per day. The complete menu appears in Table 14. The wheat wafers were prepared as described in Part 1 of this chapter; other components of the menu were commercial items. Not unexpectedly, the acceptance of this diet was not as general by the mixed population as it had been by the population of relatively young, healthy men. The children, particularly, varied greatly in their attitudes toward the food. Some refused the wheat wafers entirely--they ate only jam, peanut butter, and candy. Some refused the first two meals, but ate very well after they had become hungry. Others ate well throughout the test. This last group included children down to age 17 months. In general, the small children preferred the dry wafers with jam and peanut butter to the cereal-sauce mixtures. The adults, understanding the nature of the test and the reasons for the choice of foods, all ate adequately. However, 2000 calories-worth of food (at least in this form) may be much more than necessary for a group of this kind. Approximately 1/3 of the wheat wafers were not eaten. Had the test run longer, perhaps appetities would have increased--or boredom with the fare might have produced the opposite effect. Teenagers ate very well, but from this group came both the loudest complaints and the most enthusiastic endorsements. An informal survey revealed a general desire for more "topping" for the pilaf-type mixture. Perhaps a soup would be more acceptable, with the cereal used in much the fashion that barley and rice are frequently used in soup. This approach introduces two problems: part of any rationed water supply would have to be used in the food rather than as a beverage, and the hazard created by distributing hot soup in a crowded shelter might be quite great. The last meal served in the shelter included a topping for the cereal that was very salty. It consisted of bouillon with added chili seasoning (which includes salt) and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. This mixture was received with surprising enthusiasm. Perhaps the salt level in the diet had been too low. |