Humanitarian daily rations (HDRs, "humrats") are food rations manufactured in the United States intended to be supplied to civilians and other non-military personnel in humanitarian crises.[1][2] Each is intended to serve as a single person's full daily food supply, and contains somewhat over 2,200 calories (9,200 J). They have shelf-lives of about 3 years, and their contents are designed to be acceptable to a variety of religious and ethnic groups. The meals cost approximately one-fifth of the cost of a Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE),[3] or US$4.70 in 2012.[4] The rations were first used in Bosnia in 1993 as part of Operation Provide Promise.[5]
The meals are designed to be able to survive being air-dropped without a parachute.[3] This is safer for refugees than parachuting large pallets of rations, as well as preventing meal hoarding by those able to seize a single, large delivery.
HDRs are made available through organizations such as The Salvation Army to aid victims of poverty in the United States, and were distributed during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita to victims of the disasters by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).[citation needed]
- ^ "TECHNICAL DATA FOR HUMANITARIAN DAILY RATION" (PDF). United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
- ^ Judith McCallum (Winter 2001). "Humanitarian Daily Rations: Being Ready is Half the Battle" (PDF). Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Retrieved October 18, 2007. [dead link]
- ^ a b . "Humanitarian Daily Rations" (PDF). DSCA. Retrieved April 14, 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ PROGRAMS DIRECTORATE HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE, DISASTER RELIEF & MINE ACTION DIVISION (July 2012). "Humanitarian Daily Ration (HDR)" (PDF). dsca.mil.
- ^
"MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS". United States Department of Defense. August 2, 1995. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
Hundreds of thousands of HDR's were first air-dropped over isolated Bosnian enclaves on November 22, 1993, as part of the humanitarian relief effort PROVIDE PROMISE. Since then, the food packets have fed thousands of refugees worldwide.