Do you have a friend or loved one on active duty overseas? If you'd like to send them a holiday food package this season, go right ahead! But here are a few rules to keep in mind when shipping edible goodies to troops overseas:
DON'T
• Don't send homemade goods to soldiers you don't personally know. If you plan to send homemade cookies or treats, you MUST have the name and address of an individual soldier. Troops are instructed to throw away homemade food from people they don't know.
• Don't mix food and non-food contents. Because these items are often in the same box for weeks at a time, smells mingle and can ruin food items, i.e. soapy-tasting cookies.
• Don't send perishable foods, including meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, dairy, or any other foods that cannot safely be left at room temperature for more than two hours. This includes cookies and cakes with a cream or custard filling.
• Don't send alcohol.
• Don't send pork or pork products, since they are forbidden for religious reasons.
• Don't send high-moisture foods, like pumpkin bread or soft cookies, because of their susceptibility to molds.
• Don't send fragile cookies, cakes, or pies, since they probably won't make the trip intact.
• Don't send foods containing chocolate, since they could melt.
• Don't pack or send any food in glass or other breakable containers.
DO
• Do pack foods in clean paper boxes, metal food tins, or plastic boxes or bags.
• Do send dried beef or poultry items like beef jerky, turkey jerky or beef slim.
• Do send dense and dry baked goods like biscotti, nut bars, shortbread, ginger snaps, crackers, chips, commercially packaged cakes and cookies, and high-sugar goods like fudge, pralines, toffee, and baklava. (The high sugar helps prevent bacterial growth.)
• Do vacuum-seal any homemade goods if you want to be EXTRA sure they'll still be safe to eat when they arrive at their destination.
• Do send dried nuts, seeds, and fruit, like trail mix.
• Do send quality coffee and tea!
• Do send canned specialty foods like anchovies, tuna, sardines and dips and spreads.
• Do send dehydrated soups, drink mixes, and condiments in unbreakable jars.
HOW TO PACKAGE and MAIL
Important note: The United States Postal Service is the only mail service allowed to send packages to stationed troops. International rates do not apply to military mail delivery.
• Use a USPS Priority APO/FPO/DPO boxes to ship items overseas.
• When mailing homemade baked goods, make sure each piece is individually wrapped and then packed into an unbreakable container. Place the gifts in a sturdy box and cushion with packing peanuts or foam. Seal it securely with packing tape.
• Address labels should be readable from 30 inches. Print CLEARLY. Packages must be addressed to an individual service member. Cover the label with clear tape.
• Label the package "Fragile" and "Perishable Food" in three places: above the address, below the postage stamp, and on the back or bottom of the package.
• Fill out a custom form. Use a PS 2976-A form.
• It usually takes a week to 11 days for packages to arrive at operating bases in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Kuwait. It can take much longer to arrive at various outlying bases in Afghanistan. It's recommended to send Christmas packages no later than December 7 to ensure arrival by December 25th.
Have you sent food packages to soldiers overseas? If so, share your favorite foods, recipes, and tips!
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ANZAC Biscuits, these were made by New Zealand and Australian women to send to their loved ones serving overseas during WWI and WWII.
http://www.nzs.com/new-zealand-articles/seasons-and-celebrations/anzac-biscuits-recipe.html
This contains the history and the recipe for these biscuits, although I think Americans would label these cookies.
Hm...guessin this was copied & pasted from the USPS website.
I ship chocolate year round in the form of both m&m's & chocolate chip cookies (double bagged in freezer bags to protect other contents in the case of meltdown). The m&m's always arrive intact. The choc chips sometimes melt but the guys just don't care esp in areas where choc is hard to come by & home-made cookies are a rare treat.
I NEVER label a pkg 'perishable'. The only purpose THAT serves is to increase the chances of it getting confiscated on the way to a loved one. Likewise, labeling a pkg 'fragile' renders it only marginally less susceptible to a waylay on the destination end. And as far as handling during shipping goes, the pkg passes through many hands....MAYBE one or two will take extra precaution. Not worth the risk. Don't do it.
Oh, and about that custom form....always be honest while carefully choosing your terminology to insure your pkg arrives in the hands of your intended recipient. For example, two *special request* food pkgs to a remote location never arrived. Ok, the first coulda got lost. The second? Maybe. The third? Um....no. I racked up some $ trying to take care of my guys. Finally, at the advice of a postmaster, I used a dif term on the custom form - one not common here. THAT pkg arrived safely as did the next two I shipped. In between, dh shipped one pkg listing the common term. It never arrived. Coincidence? You be the judge.
2 additional tips:
1. get the standard prepaid package at the post office and pack it tight. it only costs $8 to send, and it doesn't matter about the weight.
2. It's not food but I have sent a fair number of care packages, and the very best thing you can send? complete seasons of high-quality television on dvd. When these guys *(and women) aren't out potentially getting blown up, they are bored bored bored and they love long, engaging entertainment. They will share the sets with others, and watch it all together, and it gives them something fresh to talk about. I sent one random soldier Veronica Mars season 1. He and his squad watched the entire season in about 2 days, then emailed me asking me to send the next 2 seasons. They called it "crack."
3-- added tip. DONT send them scifi/fantasy books (there are so many there now) and don't send them romance novels (that's all anyone sends women.) Send good books, and send the latest issues of fan magazines. I've spent a little time over there, and they are all absolutely hungry for the stupid stuff -- I had a gang gathered around me as I recounted Britney Spear's head shaving break down. They hung on every word. Surfing mags, motorcycle mags,men's mags (especially with hot women on the cover), Us Weekly. They eat it up. It's the exact opposite of their daily lives. Include a handwritten note too explaining who you are and why you included each thing. Provide your email and you will durely get a note of thanks.
pam
howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com
I sent my brother the card game Bang! while he was out in Afghanistan and he got a whole group of of his fellow Army guys into it (one of them ended up buying all the expansion packs). It's a super fun game and a small size for mailing and storing.
I'll throw in another vote for TV shows on DVD. I've bought DVDs off Amazon and had them shipped directly to my brother, rather than buying and mailing them locally.
This works equally well for any Peace Corps Volunteers in your life. As a return PCV, I can tell you, we love care packages every bit as much as our friends in arms. ^_^ However, I would say _do_ send alcohol. It's harder to find than you can possibly imagine, and most places that have it are selling to Americans, so drinks are sold at American prices... which are equivalant to our monthly pay. A little airplane sized bottle makes everyone happy. ^_-
I strongly disagree with pamh about the sci fi and fantasy novels- I personally Requested those when I was in country and loved what I got. Know your target, I guess. I also disagree about glass containers... sort of. They can break, but packed properly, you can send homemade canned goods with amazing results. My mother sent me pickles and marmalade that arrived fine, as well as a massive chunk of aged hard cheese, very carefully wrapped to keep the oil from it off everything else [it will get hot and sweat a bit, but especially during the winter, truly hard cheese ships fine- aged gouda, mimolette, etc]. My friend sent her brother cake-in-a-jar that came through just fine. It's a matter of sending -sturdy- glass containers and packing them well. If you do want to send chocolate, aim for the stuff with a higher cocoa content, it's a little more stable at high temps.
This was not copied and pasted; rather, we researched a variety of sources and these were the most common recommendations and regulations we read. Good to hear your experiences, though!