Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 329 Convenient Canned Luncheon Meat
It's important to know that the field rations of the US Army were different from those of the troops aiding Chaozhou.

In order to achieve superior endurance in field operations, the troops aiding Chaozhou used fried noodles, a food product made from flour and other grains that was less prone to mold and spoilage.

After all, it is difficult to start a fire and cook a hot meal when fighting in the field.

However, unlike the fried noodles served to the troops aiding Chaozhou, the US troops' field supplies consisted of canned luncheon meat and other types of canned goods.

Nearly a third of the supplies left by the US military at Xingnan Port were food.

Among them, canned food accounts for at least 20,000 tons, with luncheon meat being the largest category, exceeding 10,000 tons.

With so many cans of luncheon meat, even if each person only gets 100 jin (50 kg), it would be enough to feed 200,000 people. If each soldier in the aid-to-Chaozhou army had 100 jin (50 kg) of canned meat, it would greatly improve their combat endurance.

Actually, luncheon meat was not originally developed as military rations to replenish soldiers' energy, but as a common food for Americans.

To put it simply, luncheon meat is made by mincing meat, mixing it with starch, adding salt and other seasonings, steaming it, pouring it into metal cans, and sealing it. When you want to eat it, you just open the can and eat it—very convenient. You can eat it raw, or you can stir-fry it; it's a very convenient fast food, which is why it's popular with busy workers.

The development of canned luncheon meat dates back to 1937. At that time, the Hormel Company in the United States was thinking about creating a new food product that could be stored for a long time without spoiling and was also convenient and quick to eat, with the aim of gaining a foothold in the US food market.

So after some in-depth research, luncheon meat was born. Initially, it wasn't called "luncheon meat," but had a more straightforward and memorable name: "canned meat."

Homi Company aggressively pushed a lot of canned meat into the rice market, hoping to break into the rice market and gain a foothold in the food industry.

Kohmer never expected that their plan to dominate the market with canned meat would backfire so spectacularly in the United States.

Those who can afford canned meat feel that the meat in canned meat isn't fresh enough and would rather buy fresher meat. Meanwhile, ordinary people who don't care about the freshness of the meat can't afford the price of canned meat.

As a result, canned meat stopped selling well in the country. Only a portion of the middle class occasionally tried it, but they were hesitant to buy much due to food safety concerns. Consequently, large quantities of canned meat remained unsold and simply piled up in warehouses collecting dust.

Upon seeing the market feedback, Hermione immediately changed its sales strategy. They decided to primarily sell the canned meat to the middle class in the United States. Not only did they adjust the price, but they also launched a massive advertising campaign, assuring consumers that the canned meat was made with fresh pork and starch, making it safe and reliable. Furthermore, they gave the canned meat a new name: "Spam Luncheon Meat," which everyone simply called "luncheon meat."

Holmes's strategy was quite effective. After a vigorous promotion, middle-class families in the US quickly became enamored with this convenient, quick, and safe meat product. Luncheon meat successfully captured a large share of the US food market, becoming incredibly popular, and Holmes made a fortune. Luncheon meat was a huge hit in the US, becoming a popular product loved by everyone. But to be honest, that was just the beginning; its true peak was yet to come.

Since it's canned meat, and a lot of starch is added to save costs, it's never as tasty as fresh meat, no matter how it's prepared. Therefore, it's mostly eaten for lunch, since many workers have very little time at noon and don't have time to cook. They usually just eat bread, so this canned meat is a good supplement to their lunch.

However, as time went on, it reached its most glorious moment in 1939. At that time, World War II was raging, and the whole world was shrouded in the shadow of war. The United States could no longer stand aside and had no choice but to take the path of resisting fascism, sending a large number of soldiers to fight in Europe.

In war, the most crucial things are "equipment, manpower, and food." Miguo has no problem with equipment and manpower, but food becomes their headache. Ouzhou is far away from Miguo, so the rations prepared for the soldiers must be able to be stored, provide enough food, be small in size, and of course, not too expensive, otherwise transporting the rations and the associated costs will be a major problem.

Luncheon meat fully meets all the requirements of "military rations," so it naturally became an important part of the US military's rations, ranking alongside bread and ham as one of the three essential items.

When Hermione first produced luncheon meat, they strictly controlled the ratio of meat, starch, and salt, achieving a perfect balance. This luncheon meat tasted quite good and was very popular with American soldiers.

However, the longer the war dragged on, the more trouble the United States encountered. American soldiers weren't eating luncheon meat as a regular meal, but rather as a "snack for satisfying their cravings." This caused the consumption of luncheon meat to skyrocket, directly leading to a surge in American war expenses and placing a significant burden on the economy.

To reverse this situation, the government tasked Holmes with developing a new version of luncheon meat, known as Luncheon Meat 2. They increased the starch content while reducing the amount of minced meat, resulting in luncheon meat that was more like a "starch block."

The US troops complained incessantly, saying that the food from the Hermione Company was terrible and cursing them for being heartless. But because of the war, they had no choice but to make do with these lunches that were all starch.

As the war drew to a close, the US military budget became extremely tight. To save money, they not only stopped supplying bread and ham to the US army, but also spurred the creation of the Hemier Company, which developed three generations of luncheon meat to cope with the situation.

The third-generation luncheon meat contains a lot more starch and salt. While this makes the luncheon meat taste worse, it is good at filling people's stomachs and replenishing the salt of American soldiers, ensuring they have enough strength to fight.

When the American troops in Europe finally tasted the "new luncheon meat" they had been longing for, they all cursed it. The unbearably salty taste was like a violent storm of saltwater rushing into their mouths. After finishing each can, they had to gulp down a mouthful of water to wash away the saltiness. From then on, they both feared and avoided luncheon meat, refusing to touch it unless they were starving. As for the United States, this saved them a lot on food expenses, and their military budget was reduced accordingly.

However, although the US military thought this luncheon meat was not tasty, or even unpalatable, Wang Gensheng didn't find it particularly bad after trying a can; at least it was much better than the Japanese canned meat.

Moreover, this canned meat is a good match for the fried noodles served to the aid troops in Chaozhou, so at least there's no need to worry about the aid troops not getting enough nutrition.

(End of this chapter)