DOMINION CAMPS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 65, 15 June 1942, Page 6

DOMINION CAMPS

SCIENTIFIC DIETING What arc the thousands of men in the New Zealand Military Forces getting to eat? Do they get enough, is what they get good, is expert attention devoted to the planning of ration scales on modern dictetic principles which will ensure not j merely that the troops are ade-; quately fed but properly fed? At a large mobilisation camp foodstuffs were inspected as they were delivered bj' contractors, and the subsequent handling and the rationing out to units for cooking and serving to the men according to the stipulation of planned weekly schedules of rations was watched. General observations were that the rations were ample, the diet sheets skilfully arranged, the foodstuffs of the best quality, and the handling clean. Given good treatment in the cookhouses, the food is as good as most men would wish for in their own homes. On the ration schedule are a few items missing to-day from many family tables. The army ration of a man in New Zealand is between 71b and 81b daily. Officers and men get the same rations. Officers may supplement the ration scale by contributing to mess funds from their camp allowance. The diet sheets have been arranged by doctors and dietetic experts. They provide the right proportions of the various kinds of foods, having regard to the demands of men engaged in training under healthy conditions which breed keen appetites. These schedules cannot be altered without the consent of the Minister of Defence, who is guided by his expert advisers, and are uniform throughout New Zealand.