MREs (meals ready to eat) are designed to be quick and convenient, without much care for actual cooking and plating. Chef Chuck George partnered with videographer Jimmy Pham and Henry Hargreaves, to change the way we look at these military meals.

Titled MRE, the project takes these various foods, often texturally-challenged and monochromatic, and plates them to appear like gourmet meals. Although we probably won’t see servicemen actually wanting to plate their food like a gourmand — it does make you wonder if MREs suddenly become more palatable if presented outside of their plastic bags and tin cans. See the work in progress below.

‘We wanted to see how different Armies go about feeding their troops. You can tell a lot about how valued someone is by the food they are given. In respect to servicemen and woman across the globe we wanted to take these meals and elevate them to Michelin Star quality meals. In essence taking some of the most unappetizing food, thats given to the bravest people and making it look fit for the nation’s leader.’

[link, via Cool Material]