[Discuss] Armies and food

[Robert Croson, Jr]

On 14 Jan 2008 at 12:53, Timothy Collett wrote:

> I'm not saying that, in volume or mass, the soldiers necessarily
> actually eat 5 times what an equivalent number of civilian peasants
> eat.  But I would say that, given *what* they eat, it is not at all
> unreasonable to count it as 5 times the amount of nutrition. 

Did you even stop to consider the numbers on this, because 
they're just plain ridiculous. But, since you started the discussion 
of nutritional value of the food, let's take it all the way.

First, assume that we're talking about the amounts of food that a 
human being requires to live at normal, *non-starvation* levels. 
Because that's what we're really talking about: How much food a 
soldier consumes vs. how much a peasant consumes when they 
are both being well cared for.

Assuming that even the hardest working soldier actually 
consumes and uses 3000 calories a day (which is 50%(!) more 
than the average, healthy human being should consume), you're 
saying that a peasant would consume 1/5th the nutritional value 
of that, which is 600 calories a day. That's insane. It is impossible 
for a human being to live on 600 calories a day. You could 
possibly make an argument that a person could survive on 1200 
calories a day, but that person is not going to be in any kind of 
physical shape to do the work that a medieval peasant would be 
required just to survive. (1,200 calories for a normal person is 
below the level at which the body's starvation instinct kicks in. 
Your matebolism slows down and you actually accumulate fat 
faster, even though you're eating less!)

Yes, they are peasants. Yes, we can mistreat them, torture them, 
beat them up, make them work and live in filth, yadda, yadda, 
yadda. That's part and parcel of the game, and I'm not advocating 
anything else.

But what you're saying is that a soldier, in the normal course of 
performing his duties, consumes 5 times the *calories* of a 
peasant. That's preposterous. I could possibly agree to 200% of 
the caloric intake. But 500%? Not a chance.

And just to be complete, this has no bearing on the actual type of 
food that the person eats. It's all based on nutritional value. The 
soldier can get his 3,000 calories of venison, beef, prime grade 
wheat flour, etc., and the peasant can get mealy grain, mouldy 
bread, and a once-a-week bonus of stringy chicken. That doesn't 
matter, since we're talking caloric intake.

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