[DayLateDon]

Hello ...

A soldier buddy has been in Afghanistan (at FOB Salerno) for a while, and she's craving sushi. Is there a place that'll ship a complete "kit" (rice and stuff, plus (frozen) sashimi) over there?

Catalina Offshore Products has the kind of thing I'm looking for:

Easy Sushi Making Kit with Instructions
Small Frozen Sashimi Grade Variety Pack A-1

but they tell me they can't ship "outside the 50 states". (This, even though the web site has "AE" --one of the military APO identifiers-- under a shipping "State".) I'm not sure of the nature of the inability here; are they *banned* from such shipping? would the shipment be confiscated by the military? is it just a policy borne of the expectation that the seafood would go bad at such distances (and with expected delays)?

I realize that shipping very-perishable perishables to a combat zone is a long shot at best, and it's probably just not feasible. But, given what this woman is going through out there, I figured I should *at least* investigate the possibility.


Thanks for your insights,

DayLateDon

[Sherman Homan]

Great idea but it won't work. I have shipped magazines to APO addresses. It takes weeks, the packages are always cut open and inspected. Food products that can be shipped are listed here:
www.TroopCarePackage.com Shipping Tips
and here:
Any Soldier Inc. ... How to Send �����
Bless you for your efforts!

[abe]

Originally Posted by DayLateDon 

Hello ...

A soldier buddy has been in Afghanistan (at FOB Salerno) for a while, and she's craving sushi. Is there a place that'll ship a complete "kit" (rice and stuff, plus (frozen) sashimi) over there?

Catalina Offshore Products has the kind of thing I'm looking for:

Easy Sushi Making Kit with Instructions
Small Frozen Sashimi Grade Variety Pack A-1

but they tell me they can't ship "outside the 50 states". (This, even though the web site has "AE" --one of the military APO identifiers-- under a shipping "State".) I'm not sure of the nature of the inability here; are they *banned* from such shipping? would the shipment be confiscated by the military? is it just a policy borne of the expectation that the seafood would go bad at such distances (and with expected delays)?

I realize that shipping very-perishable perishables to a combat zone is a long shot at best, and it's probably just not feasible. But, given what this woman is going through out there, I figured I should *at least* investigate the possibility.


Thanks for your insights,

DayLateDon

Ask her to ask a nearby pilot who makes regular transport shipments to and fro if there's a way. And if you really care, tell her you'll send her two duplicate shipments of sushi. One for herself and the other for the pilot who makes the shipment a possibility.

Heck, for all we know it might be no big deal for a C-17 pilot to put a smallish, well-packed with dry-ice and insulated, package in the cockpit for an 18 hour flight to Bagram Airbase and an hour or two to her camp via regular supply helo.

GHP would probably know exactly if & how this could be done.

[abe]

From American Public Media, often heard on NPR, this is from the show, "Marketplace."

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

The Taliban has regained a foothold in many parts of Afghanistan, and security has worsened. But amid the violence, a few determined investors have given life to Kabul's first luxury hotel — and a symbol of hope. Miranda Kennedy reports.

KAI RYSSDAL: There's violence enough to go around in the Middle East. So it's been easy to lose sight of Afghanistan. But a thousand people have been killed there in the past three months. NATO and US troops are fighting the Taliban in the southern part of the country. And even in the capital of Kabul security's getting worse. But between the riots and the car bombs, some determined investors have persevered. Miranda Kennedy reports they've turned a dingy government building into the city's first luxury hotel.

MIRANDA KENNEDY: Nestled among bombed-out buildings, the Serena Hotel touts itself as the symbol of the new Kabul. Its design is sleek, and its service is close to world class. There's sushi but no swimming pool. With a price tag of almost $37 million, it's one of the biggest foreign investments into Afghanistan yet. But it hasn't been easy for hotel management.

Marketplace: War-torn Kabul's first 5-star hotel

So that's another avenue to explore.

Her visiting the hotel, all expenses paid by you? (Unless it's off-limits.)

She or you contacting the hotel inquiring about delivery. Hmm, I'd be wary of that.

Finding out who supplies the hotel and finding out if they also already provide supplies and/or foodstuffs to US bases there.

Or, getting a petition of hundreds of other US personnel who'd also like sushi once every few months (or whatever) and asking the Mess Hall or the Commissary staff to try to get it for her.

[monkeybrain]

Can't she just get some rice, catch a nice fish and then woila - she can make it herself!

[starman]

Do you really want to risk sending bad fish to our troops?