CW5 Russell D Campbell 182667 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Such as vegan and gluten free? Does the Army and/or DoD have a responsibility to provide special food/menus for dietary restrictions or preferences? 2014-07-20T20:32:46-04:00 CW5 Russell D Campbell 182667 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Such as vegan and gluten free? Does the Army and/or DoD have a responsibility to provide special food/menus for dietary restrictions or preferences? 2014-07-20T20:32:46-04:00 2014-07-20T20:32:46-04:00 CPT Private RallyPoint Member 182677 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Chief, I am assuming you are asking not to hear the AR repeated that you probably know like the back of your hand, but philosophically...should the Army be catering to &quot;special&quot; diets that are fads or lifestyle choices (as severe allergies to common food items tend to be disqualifying).<br /><br />No, I do not think that the military should have a responsibility to provide gluten-free, lactose-free, &quot;cruelty&quot;-free, carb-free, sugar-free, etc meal options. I include demanding that your food be cooked separately in this same category.<br /> <br />As a vegetarian Jew, it was always up to me to figure it out, even though technically, by regs, my meals should have been provided (I personally felt that the reg covered the issues as independent - I disagree it can be extrapolated to mean I should be provided vegetarian Kosher meals). I ate grilled cheese sandwiches made on the same grill as hamburgers. I ate plain (flavorless) egg noodles as my entire meal many, many times. I took the duty of unloading MRE boxes so that I could be sure to get a vegetarian meal (and not that inedible veggie burger), which by the way are some of the most popular meals...maybe there&#39;s a lesson learned there: people would rather have no meat, than disgusting meat.<br /><br />I recognize that my lifestyle choice of being vegetarian is a first-world problem where we can choose to turn our noses up at food. When you make a choice like that, it&#39;s up to you to maintain it. Don&#39;t expect the world to bend to your needs just because you recently discovered Buddha, Dr. Oz, or P-90X. Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 20 at 2014 8:54 PM 2014-07-20T20:54:28-04:00 2014-07-20T20:54:28-04:00 SSG Ed Mikus 182684 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Chief,<br />I do not believe the Army should cater to people for their own choices, i have however had soldiers put on special diets by their doctors, the commander submitted a memo to the chow hall and they provided him special meals for they duration of the diet. <br />For temporary medical reasons i think the Army should help if possible, for personal reasons the Army should not. Response by SSG Ed Mikus made Jul 20 at 2014 9:04 PM 2014-07-20T21:04:03-04:00 2014-07-20T21:04:03-04:00 SGT Steven Eugene Kuhn MBA 460624 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Is the Army an Airline? They even get it wrong most of the time and we pay for that. I do not see the point of being catered to; what happens in battle? In the Sandbox? A separate MRE ofr each person who is on a diet; Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo, low carb and so on? ... No. Response by SGT Steven Eugene Kuhn MBA made Feb 7 at 2015 7:17 AM 2015-02-07T07:17:31-05:00 2015-02-07T07:17:31-05:00 PO1 John Miller 810142 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div><br />Chief I did find the following website (take it for what it's worth since it's not a *.mil site) that addresses dietary needs of Jewish and Muslim military members:<br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/kosher/kosher_soldiers.php3">http://www.jewishworldreview.com/kosher/kosher_soldiers.php3</a> <div class="pta-link-card answers-template-image type-default"> <div class="pta-link-card-picture"> <img src="https://d26horl2n8pviu.cloudfront.net/link_data_pictures/images/000/017/882/qrc/kosher_living_hed.gif?1443048071"> </div> <div class="pta-link-card-content"> <p class="pta-link-card-title"> <a target="blank" href="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/kosher/kosher_soldiers.php3">Military buys special meals for Jewish, Muslim troops</a> </p> <p class="pta-link-card-description">var zflag_nid=&quot;794&quot;; var zflag_cid=&quot;1819&quot;; var zflag_sid=&quot;6&quot;; var zflag_width=&quot;160&quot;; var zflag_height=&quot;600&quot;; var zflag_sz=&quot;7&quot;;</p> </div> <div class="clearfix"></div> </div> Response by PO1 John Miller made Jul 12 at 2015 7:58 PM 2015-07-12T19:58:08-04:00 2015-07-12T19:58:08-04:00 SPC George Rudenko 810216 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Only if there is a diagnosed illness/disease/injury. If not, go spend your own money lol Response by SPC George Rudenko made Jul 12 at 2015 8:34 PM 2015-07-12T20:34:28-04:00 2015-07-12T20:34:28-04:00 SSG (ret) William Martin 823943 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I have a simple and easy fix if the SM is in garrison and is AD. Give the SM BAS and they are on their own. It will be their responsibility. When it comes to food preparation in the food, cooks might have the ability not to have cross contamination with certain red meats with other red meats and with other non meats like veggies. It could work, Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Jul 17 at 2015 9:09 PM 2015-07-17T21:09:56-04:00 2015-07-17T21:09:56-04:00 SGM Bill Frazer 3380188 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>preferences do not matter- that is a like, not a restriction nor religious thing. And I have seen meals to include MRE&#39;s that meet religious concerns. Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Feb 22 at 2018 3:48 PM 2018-02-22T15:48:50-05:00 2018-02-22T15:48:50-05:00 2014-07-20T20:32:46-04:00