B.D.F Hires Nutritionist to Address Soldiers’ Diet
Word spread earlier this week that the food rations provided to the soldiers of the Belize Defense Force have been cut and that fresh meats, namely chicken and fish have been replaced with canned sausages. But when we met with Prime Minister John Briceño and Minister of Defense, Florencio Marin Junior today, they said there’s no truth to any cuts, just adjustments to the soldiers’ diet, based on the advice of a newly hired nutritionist. And while the officials explained the rationale behind the shift in the food rations, B.D.F Commandant, Brigadier-General Azariel Loria said the budget in the food rations for the B.D.F has actually gone up.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“The truth of the matter is that it is nutritionists that came here and looked at the food that they’re eating, and we are having a serious problem of diabetes, a serious problem of hypertension and overweight because of the food that we eat. So what they have done now is that they have come up with a more wholesome food, a more healthy food for the BDF. So it’s not a matter of volume. What’s a matter of eating healthy? And that’s exactly that. You never take fresh chicken when you’re out on the field. You can’t unless you’re walking around with a freezer. What you do, you have to take canned food. And that is what the canned food is done for the field. And then the fresh chicken is when you’re on camp.”
Florencio Marin
Florencio Marin, Junior, Minister of Defense
“It is nothing out of the ordinary, no? We’re not trying to starve the soldiers. I think even you guys know that under the leadership of Minister Mir and I, we’re not here to play games with our soldiers. We’ve been there. We know what it is. But, like everything that is modern, obesity is beginning to be an issue. Diabetes is becoming an issue. As a representative, I encounter a lot of that in my area. We’re now encountering it in the military. So what we have done is now to hire a nutritionist to give us a tailor made an array of food to be able to help combat this obesity and diabetes that is now affecting us.”
Marion Ali
“But the budget hasn’t been cut?”
Florencio Marin, Jr.
“Well, nobody informed me of that. That’s not what I know of. I mean, I know that every year what the military has requested, we have provided. I don’t really know your source on that one. The changes mostly is at least on the camp on the field. Well, no, we have to ensure that they have to get much more calories in because then they’re really working double, triple time. They’re burning. They’re burning like some of these guys on a patrol. They burn like about 5000 calories a day. So there there’s no shortage.”
Reporter
“So because they’re saying that they’re getting thin foods like in sausage and whatnot.”
Florencio Marin, Jr.
“Yeah, that’s how we serve them. That is nothing new, no? We serve them all that we can get available in Belize, right? But as well, too, one of the things we have done is that we’re also looking at the brands to try to have a variety. I mean, after a while, this is experience talking, after a while, when you’re out there for like 10, 14 days, you know, you kind ah want ah lee mix. So we’re also looking at trying to do a change in some of the brands that will at least bring a little bit of comfort.”
Azariel Loria
Brigadier-General Azariel Loria, Commandant, B.D.F
“In my days, the ration, the quantity or the money used to be like 5 dollars per day per soldier times 365 days per year, then went up to six. Then it went up to nine, and then to thirteen. In the last three, four years, it went to thirteen dollars. So, for the soldier to consume their rations here for 365 days it’s obvious that the soldier will not be here with us for 365 days. The soldier goes their stand down that is five days off. Going to leave. So if you look at it, it’s a bit more than 13 dollars that they’re getting.”
