ODA linked to emergency situations, military operations & space missions

Considering the decrease of basic food resources generated by global climate change, the degradation of the drinking water, the accelerated growth of the world’s population, less and less cooking time, we have sufficient reasons to develop solutions for the future food. Emergency situations, military operations & space missions have special food needs due to the dynamic activities that happens in these segments and the necessities that are required in these fields.

Emergency Situations – We are facing calamities, people who are living in areas affected by disasters, poverty, hunger & malnutrition, human mass migrations, refugee camps and less but not least pandemic crises. In situations like these, food is beyond necessity, it is a question of life and death. Today on the market, we have food under the form of powders, powders that can “support” any type of ingredients, are not demographical, gender or activity level tailored. Food crisis management encounters difficulties at times when food needs to be urgently transported from one country to another, people in affected areas have different cultural backgrounds and this aspect must be taken into consideration when we talk about emergency food. Food under the form of powder is thrown away, mainly because there aren’t indications of how to be consumed, has no taste (uneatable), demands hygienically conditions for preparation, kitchen tools, pots, water and heaters. There is also the issue of too much plastic used for packaging, so tons of waste is not professionally managed. Army forces and salvation teams are facing an excess of carbohydrates to reach the necessary calorie level in their food intakes.

Military Operations – Body and mind require continuous concentration, high level activity is constant, camps are mainly isolated, soldiers have missions where time is at the essence, they have different cultural background that require menus in accordance with what they eat, nutritionally balanced food and specific calories ratio are needed. Land, water, air, the food is a must in any type of operations and so what they eat has to be efficient, tasty, easy to be carried, storage and consumed. It also has to be personalized by taking into account the demographic zones, soldiers cultural background, gender, health status and taste. Today, MRE are mainly in the form of powders, there were lots of complaints that the food is non-eatable, has too much sugars, preservatives, has to be cooked by adding water, heaters are needed, also clean spaces and other kitchen tools are required.

Space Missions – We are facing a very dynamic technological evolution that determines us to move forward, explore outside the “Earth’s borders’’ and “conquer” new spaces. Space missions are in their early stages but still need nourishment for their crews. Food in zero gravity is totally different than food on Earth. Advancements were made but currently without ground-breaking results.

For all the above and more, ODA is the response. Tablet, ready to eat, nutritionally controlled tailored food, prepared with natural and various ingredients by taking into account destination, usage, cultural background, gender, health status without being necessary to add water, to use heaters, to generate massive food waste, to have special, clean spaces and to loose time for cooking. Efficiency, sustainability, smart use of raw materials, nutritionally controlled, eating more with less are just a few of the advantages that ODA can bring in special situations.

Smart food for human kind and progress by respecting the food value chain, Earth’s garden and resources. The time is now to bring future food into the present, much faster, for the benefit of all and ODA opens new horizons on global food perspectives and use; technology and product.