Unloved by Generations of Soldiers, the M.R.E. Finds a Fan Base

The rations often derided as ‘Meals, Rarely Edible’ have gotten (somewhat) better and become objects of fascination for millions of civilians.

Kathleen Ehl had always thought of her business as a niche affair — an online store called North Georgia Outdoors Supply that she and her husband run out of their home in Gainesville, selling Meals, Ready to Eat. M.R.E.s, as they widely known, are thick pouches of shelf-stable rations created for the United States military. They’re not particularly fancy or appetizing, and they’re technically not allowed to be sold commercially if they are made under a government contract, as most are. Ms. Ehl and her husband, Oliver Walker, scour online auctions and salvage stores for the meals, and sell most of them to collectors and survivalists. But last February, when pandemic-induced panic buying kicked into high gear, their orders jumped from 100 a week to 100 a day. “There were some nights my husband and I packed M.R.E.s from after the kids went to bed to 2 in the morning,” said Ms. Ehl, 37.