ISS
Posted on 10/29/2005 10:22:27 AM PDT by GeneD
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Uncle Sam has tried to feed millions of hurricane victims this year with Meals-Ready-to-Eat, or MREs, only to fear that some of them have become Meals-Ready-for-eBay.
The government is looking into whether eBay sellers in Gulf Coast states are trying to profit from military foodstuffs handed out for free following hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Representatives for eBay, the online auctioneer company, say it is impossible to prove that any of the meals were meant for hurricane victims. They note that MREs can be bought in camping stores and Army-Navy surplus outlets.
But at least some of the MREs advertised on the Web site are being sold from Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and other Gulf states, and are individually packaged with a disclaimer that clearly notes: "U.S. Government property _ Commercial resale is unlawful."
"If it's true, that's pretty reprehensible," said Cheryl Guidry Tyiska, deputy director of the National Organization of Victim Assistance. "There are a lot of pretty hungry people down there who could use the food for free."
One seller, identified as from "Louisiana Cajun Country," described being hit "with the eye of Rita." Bidding had reached $50.99 for the seller's unopened case of MREs by Saturday.
"It was very depressing to come back and see that Rita took half our roof with her and left a lot of trees on the fence," the seller wrote. "I am still in a state of shock and a daze. It has really been a mess. I thank God for my solid gold eBay customers. Thanks for your prayers."
Bidding on other MREs, from Biloxi, Miss., to Pensacola, Fla., ranged from 99 cents to over $100. One case, from Lake Arthur, La., was being advertised as "real military issue" for $36.02. Its 12 individually wrapped meals included beef ravioli, chicken with Thai sauce and a veggie burger with barbecue sauce.
E-mails sent by The Associated Press to eBay's MRE sellers in Gulf Coast states went unanswered.
The Homeland Security Department's inspector general has asked investigators to examine the suspicious MREs on eBay, spokeswoman Tamara Faulkner said. In the past, the Pentagon has complained about MRE sales on eBay, Defense Logistics Agency spokeswoman Marcia Klein said. The agency has not decided whether to pursue the current eBay sales, though officials are considering all avenues, she said.
The Pentagon pays $86.98 for a case of MREs, or about $7.25 per meal, Klein said. The Web site for a chain of Army-Navy stories in the Washington area listed a case of 12 MREs for $96.
Told of the eBay sales, the acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, R. David Paulison, said he "will not tolerate any type of fraud, and we will pursue it to the fullest extent." FEMA distributed millions of MREs to hurricane victims over the past two months.
eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said the San Jose, Calif.-based company has not received any complaints from government or law enforcement officials about MRE sales in the wake of the recent storms.
Additionally, Durzy said, eBay has asked the Pentagon to cite the law that would prohibits the sale of its MREs, but has not gotten an answer.
"When we asked them to show us a law to show it is unlawful, and they were unable to do so, we said they're legal as far as we're concerned," Durzy said.
eBay does prohibit the selling of expired MREs that are not advertised as a collector's item, Durzy said. Items that would violate the law if sold through eBay are removed from the site, he said.
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On the Net:
Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov/
eBay: http://www.ebay.com/
Good lord almighty. The things are nasty enough when you *have* to eat 'em. I can't imagine buying one on purpose.
Seems like the Pentagon could drive a harder bargain for a mass-produced item.
They're great for camping.
Seems like the Pentagon could drive a harder bargain for a mass-produced item.
Maybe they should buy them on eBay! :-)
Idiocy to pay so much. longlifefood.com has them at $2.50 each, and they've been that same price for awhile. Free shipping if you get 10 or more as well, a good deal.
I kinda like the chili/macaroni too..
ISS
The MRE's made by government contractors and sold in camping stores must have a clear outer package. Only the government is allowed to receive and distribute MRE's with a brown outer package. It would not be that hard to track down, either hurricane katrina victims selling MRE's or soldiers who stole them and are selling them on eBay.
Some of them are actually pretty good. Sometimes the brave and handsome Sgt. Phantom will wind up not eating every MRE he took on a field exercise, and if they're good, he'll eat them at home later.
Others are truly gross. He says that there's a few that he'd rather go hungry than eat.
And they do plug up the works a little bit, but hubby says that they're made that way intentionally. They come with these small pieces of gum, so that later on, one can chew them when he has time to visit the facilities, and they'll make him go to the bathroom.
I thought the American military said the real meaning of "MRE" was "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians".
Regards, Ivan
I'm sure they are kind of gross, but I'd kind of like to try one or two...sometime that opportunity will happen. (I'm not so curious as to order them on eBay or other places on the web. Sometime I'll see one in a store or something....)
For $7.25, I can go to a restaurant and eat a good meal. Most of those MRE's that I've been blessed to have to eat tasted like they were created by nutritionists. A couple of nutritionists that I have known and worked with, had no more concept of how to cook or make anything taste good than the man in the moon.
Good Afternoon (Here); Evening (there), Ivan. Always good to see your witty and insightful posts here.
Just to make your reply clear, it isn't the "American Militaary" that calls the MREs "Meals, Rejected by Ethiopians", but members and former members of the American Military.
I never have had to eat any, but my old man would go to the PX at Scott AFB once and awile, when I was a kid, and bring back a bunch of C's and K's for us boys and kick us out of the house for the afternoon to go "bivouacing".
What do a bunch of pre-teens know about haute cuisine. And now that I think about it, there were a good majority of my siblings born between February and May.
I did mean that the people in the military, rather than officialdom, called them that - I wasn't particularly clear, apologies. :)
I have heard some pretty dire stories about MRE's from those who served in Gulf War 1 - apparently they have improved in recent days. But have they improved to the point of being sold on Ebay?
Regards, Ivan
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha...
Yeah. The old dark-brown wrapper ones were completely disgusting. The worst thing was that you generally ate them cold, so you'd get this congealed mass of, well, something. Once the light-brown wrappers came out, they included MRE heaters. The heaters made all the difference in the world.
I had some POT brownies once, and they were quite delightful.
The difference is eating them because you want to (ie, on a camping trip or whatever) and eating them because you have to.
I still think they're gross.
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