UNEXPLAINED INCREASE IN MILITARY FOOD ORDERS
(Note: I will avoid using the company name or any specific brand names in this article for the protection of the source. Suffice to say that for whatever product type, the manufacturers are of the largest food production companies and most well-known brands in the country.)
I have a friend that works for a large food distribution broker that handles product orders from many large, national food producers for distribution in the Southwest. When you handle the largest food companies in the country, inevitably you're going to be doing business
with the US military. This relationship is actually pretty routine with a standard order of x-amount of whatever item delivered at regular intervals. But this last week marked a huge spike in the quantities the military routinely requests.
with the US military. This relationship is actually pretty routine with a standard order of x-amount of whatever item delivered at regular intervals. But this last week marked a huge spike in the quantities the military routinely requests.
They ordered 9 times the cases of Ice Tea when the usual order was roughly 1,000 cases. The particular version of this tea is for food service use, as opposed to being for retail, there is not enough to cover their full order and this will apparently cleaned the Southwestern area of the country out of this product until early December.
They ordered 4 times the cases of Cheddar Cheese Sauce when the usual order was roughly 2,000 cases (however, they will not
receive the entirety of this order, either), and an additional number of cases of Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese sauce roughly equal to 3 times the amount of the usually requested order of 1,000 or so. Twelve 40-foot semis full of cheese sauce headed for Middle East…
receive the entirety of this order, either), and an additional number of cases of Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese sauce roughly equal to 3 times the amount of the usually requested order of 1,000 or so. Twelve 40-foot semis full of cheese sauce headed for Middle East…
They've even tripled-up on the amount of Yellow Mustard and Non-Dairy Creamer normally purchased.
Now these might seem innocuous simply because they're just condiments, but one doesn't buy condiments unless one has food to go with them. So, by that logic, there must be some equally enormous orders of the actual food that these condiments accompany. Also, these are just the numbers from one person, others in that office received large
military orders last week as well, which became apparent through the office chatter on the topic. And keep in mind that this particular office only handles the Southwest, and one can assume that other brokers in the rest of the country are seeing orders of this magnitude.
military orders last week as well, which became apparent through the office chatter on the topic. And keep in mind that this particular office only handles the Southwest, and one can assume that other brokers in the rest of the country are seeing orders of this magnitude.
Bottom line: the US military is stocking up food in Kuwait, right now, on a scale roughly 4-5 times larger than they have been since the war started. In fact, the US Military has made this a rush order and is planning to airlift some of the food from Virginia by week's end.
This could very well be the proverbial canary-in-the-coal-mine warning for the suspicion that the Bush Administration is planning on putting more troops
and launching a huge offensive in Iraq after our elections here -- no matter who wins. This could even be a piece of the puzzle that points to the Bush Administration restarting the draft, despite Bush's assertion that they aren't. Or one could look at it in a way that things in Iraq are possibly deteriorating so badly that the military is having concerns about being able to supply the troops adequately over the next few months.
and launching a huge offensive in Iraq after our elections here -- no matter who wins. This could even be a piece of the puzzle that points to the Bush Administration restarting the draft, despite Bush's assertion that they aren't. Or one could look at it in a way that things in Iraq are possibly deteriorating so badly that the military is having concerns about being able to supply the troops adequately over the next few months.
One could also make the inference that perhaps this food is to pacify the troops being held against their will and to compensate for the substandard conditions that Halliburton apparently offers them.
Whatever the case, something is happening that does not bode well for
the near future.
the near future.
