Food prepartion?

[Easterner9504]

Fold Ups

While I see no problem with that most deck plans (maybe all) fail to reserve space for items to fold up into. It's why I dislike fresher/showers. Fine concept but requires storage space I never see. Unlike on Serenity where Mal's plumbing eats up a chunk of wall creating the ladder alcove.

 

[Ranger]

Yes, I think Serenity is an excelent model for deck plans on many levels (though it does suffer from the classic problem of the deck plan not quite matching the ship exterior hull space). In terms of food preperation, the galley and food storage take up a significant portion of the 'crew lounge' space, and food quality is a definate issue for the crew. I don't see Serenity rated to offer high passage.

 

[Pagan priest]

Well, according to GT: Starships, passenger staterooms have built in mini kitchens with the food packages passed out by the steward before each meal.

I don't buy it. Not for mid, and certainly not for high passage. However, I could see the same kind of thing that you can find in hotels these days: a mini fridge stocked with cold beverages and a kettle for heating water, along with a selection of coffees, teas, and soup packets. The exact contents of either would vary with the local conditions and cultures in the region.

Even for the lower end of the mid passage quality ships (such as player owned free traders), meals are still social events as much as they are about the injestion of required nutrients. Especially if the ship is not providing any other form of live entertainment, shared meals give the passengers a time to be out of their staterooms.

If you want to make high passage travellers happy, the best bet would be to have a hydroponics garden on board, big enough to provide a fresh salad with every dinner. That way, even if the rest of the meal is the future equivalent of a TV dinner served on fine china, the passengers can still be happy about the salad.

 

[Drakon]

I don't buy it. Not for mid, and certainly not for high passage. However, I could see the same kind of thing that you can find in hotels these days: a mini fridge stocked with cold beverages and a kettle for heating water, along with a selection of coffees, teas, and soup packets. The exact contents of either would vary with the local conditions and cultures in the region.

This makes good sense.

If you want to make high passage travellers happy, the best bet would be to have a hydroponics garden on board, big enough to provide a fresh salad with every dinner. That way, even if the rest of the meal is the future equivalent of a TV dinner served on fine china, the passengers can still be happy about the salad.

My first thought woudl be that you would need a large amount of cargo space to provide for salads. But then I got an idea.

One big problem is that you need time for the salad to grow. Your passengers don't want to wait till next spring, they want salads this week. Which means probably a factor of 3 or higher of space for salad that can be used, and salad still maturing. (Need 3 units per person; 1 that can be harvested this week, and 2 more that are still maturing.)

But there is no reason that the maturing units have to be aboard ship.

So we at Drakonian Aerospace will be offering a new service/product. We call it "Limey Cube". The "Limey Cube" is a Self contained Hydroponic Unit capable of supporting a few humans for 1 week, that can be stowed in any habitable cargo space. Foods grown in a "Limey Cube" takes about 3 weeks to grow. When you travel a standard route, you swap out your depleted Limey Cube with one that had been matured and maintained on the ground. That way, your ship always has fresh food ready to harvest and consume.

Just swap your old "Limey Cube" at one of our franchised dealerships throughout the Empire, and know that it meets the exacting standards of Drakonian Aerospace.

[Detailed specs to follow]

 

[Morninman]

If you want to make high passage travellers happy, the best bet would be to have a hydroponics garden on board, big enough to provide a fresh salad with every dinner. That way, even if the rest of the meal is the future equivalent of a TV dinner served on fine china, the passengers can still be happy about the salad.

Would you even need a hydroponic garden? If tissue culture technology is sufficiently developed to allow for vat grown meat I can't see why the same technique couldn't be used for vegetables. Why bother with gardening, other than the potential aesthetic issues, when you can have a salad extruder producing a steady supply of fresh vegetable bits on demand?

 

[Peter Schutze]

>Would you even need a hydroponic garden?

Waste treatment at lower TL

 

[RockViper]

"Limey Cube".
[Detailed specs to follow]

This is a cool idea, consider it stolen :smirk:

 

[Drakon]

This is a cool idea, consider it stolen :smirk:

If you are stealing the actual product on the ground, that is grand theft. In space, charges of piracy are involved, at least the revocation of your deposit.

If you are stealing the concept and producing your own variant, well our intellectual property lawyers will contact your lawyers, they will bill both of us an exhorbatant amount of money, and this will get tied up in the Imperial courts for years. Sigh. How about we discuss licensing. It will be cheaper than theft.

Of course I am joking. Actually I am flattered. But does present an interesting idea. How do Imperial customs inspectors react to black market Limey Cubes?

Please remember, it is a central product in a business system, similar to U-Haul. Limey Cubes (tm) are serviced and maintained (for the most part) on the ground by franchised catering services at your better starports. While starships can purchase Limey Cubes (tm) and maintain them in space, because of the grow times, they will need extra cubes to maintain a constant supply of fresh foods. So its either cargo space tied up in "fallow" cubes, or fresh vegatables only one out of every 3 weeks.

 

[Whipsnade]

How do Imperial customs inspectors react to black market Limey Cubes?

Drakon,

Generally speaking, customs only gets involved when some thing crosses the extrality line. I don't think the SPA or Imperium will automatically confiscate black market or knock-off Limey Cubes they find aboard ships because the cubes haven't crossed the extrality line.

What I do see the Imperium doing is enforcing the the IP rights of the manufacturer(s) of Limey Cubes. They'll bring various types of pressure to bear against the member polities where the black market cubes are produced and they'll seize black market cubes that cross the extrality line. So, a black market producer on Arglebargle-IX will find it impossible to get their product into the starport where their customers exist unless they resort to smuggling, bribes, and so forth.

Of course, the verve with which the Imperium enforces those IP rights will be directly linked to the political muscle the rights holder possesses.


Regards,
Bill

 

[RockViper]

Of course I am joking. Actually I am flattered. But does present an interesting idea. How do Imperial customs inspectors react to black market Limey Cubes?

Ha, always with the lawyers and imperial inspectors, how is a lowly Solomani free trader supposed to make an honest living

I would think that as long as the imperial tax documents and food safety stamps (also requires an imperial fee) are in order they probably wouldn't care about the origin of the cube.

 

[far-trader]

...how is a lowly Solomani free trader supposed to make an honest living

The same way we mighty Imperial traders do...

...dishonestly :smirk:

 

[Drakon]

Of course, the verve with which the Imperium enforces those IP rights will be directly linked to the political muscle the rights holder possesses.


Regards,
Bill

Well, as a wealthy interstellar businessman, if I don't have enough political muscle to get justice, I am sure I have enough economic muscle to hire the right physical muscle to get the job done.

[Insert evil laugh here]

 

[Mithras]

Agreed!

And I love the way that posting 'IMTU' at the beginning of your comment or suggestion does not automatically invalidate what you are saying. I like that alot.

The whole reason that we fight so much to keep these forums open, active and alive. To share things that we have or have not thought of, to have a sense of community in the whole world with a thing that we are passionate about and to convince everyone else that we are right :rofl:
well mostly right

And keep asking questions and posting ideas, it could grow into quite a bigger game.

Dave Chase