Shipboard life support and food per person per day?

[Spinward Scout]

But they don't.

Consider the issues with airline food. Apparently, human taste changes at higher altitudes, even on pressurized aircraft, so they have to amp up the flavor profiles in the dishes, which isn't necessarily good.

Just like we don't have PGMPs, but we can imagine them. Like we don't have Jump Drives, but we can imagine them.

We can also imagine great tasting food at higher Tech Levels. As I mention, "some people think it's the sauce."

A combination of different herbs and spices from different worlds, or even synthesized flavorings. A thousand Chefs from a thousand worlds put their ideas into these TV Dinners.

"Show your PCs a good time with the best Traveller meals in the Galaxy! It's not Tech Level-14 until you've tried them all!"

 

[kilemall]

My perspective is that even auto print food no matter how clever or engineered will have distinctive tastes identifiable to the sort of people that have high passage money.

So part of that life support budget is buying fresh materials at each port to break up the just another printed cube doldrums.

 

[Condottiere]

Have an Economy Rice buffet onboard.

 

[coliver988]

when Traveller and food come up I always think of the Firefly episode when Book pays with strawberries. Fresh food is always good.

 

[kilemall]

when Traveller and food come up I always think of the Firefly episode when Book pays with strawberries. Fresh food is always good.
View attachment 5705

Definitely Mid Passage only boat. No jumps so small craft rates, premium on collective space and closets for staterooms.

Still, that’s at least a Cr1000 strawberry.

 

[Condottiere]

What was Inara's menu?

 

[whartung]

"Yesterday's coffee is today's coffee and will become tomorrow's coffee."

Let that sink seep in.

In some communities here on Terra Firma, this is also true.

In Orange County, they have a concept called "Toilet to Tap". By that they're not simply letting "gray" water drain into the sea, but they're filtering, reprocessing, and pumping it back down into the aquifers to be reused as drinking water.

 

[Dragoner]

IMTU I have printed food, like getting a printed pizza is super-nutrious because the computer monitors people's diets so they get what they need. Organic foods still exist as a luxury, though like today's junk food, people know it is not as good for them; it still commands a premium price, however.

 

[Condottiere]

The printer will be made from stone.

 

[Dragoner]

Not sure I get it.

 

[Condottiere]

There are a lot of baked goods that premiumize on being baked in a stone oven.

 

[coliver988]

There are a lot of baked goods that premiumize on being baked in a stone oven.

I was actually thinking mortar and pestle to grind up fresh food. not sure why I entirely missed stone-baked pizza!

 

[Condottiere]

Gravity for compression; lasers for slicing.

 

[agorski]

Lower the gravity to get the cake to rise.

 

[Condottiere]

Letting sleeping cakes lie.

It is, after all.

 

[whartung]

"Frank, I need you to pressurize the ship to 1 ATM, I don't have the high altitude directions for this cake mix."

 

[FreeTrav]

If you're a tramp trader, with no dedicated steward aboard, you either go with economy mealpax (57th Century MREs) or you have a Basic (see Dumarest) still running, and you live on that until you get into port, where Real Food becomes a possibility. If you're lucky, you have a Nth-Generation Microwave Oven to heat the mealpax in; otherwise, you get the brand that has the pull-tab-to-initiate-heat-cycle, and tolerate rubbery meat or pasta, lukewarm.

If you have a dedicated steward and take mid passengers, the mealpax - a high-end brand - can be heated in a convection oven (probably dual-mode with microwave) and prettied up and served on real plates - perhaps recyclable, but they shouldn't be too obviously so - with real flatware (ditto). Maybe once per trip, there will be a Special Meal where Real Food, like on a planet, is served.

Player-character ships probably can't take high passengers. They'll expect each meal - not less than two per day, and may be up to six depending on home culture - to be Real Food, prepared fresh. Plus cabin service at any time.

 

[casquilho]

If you're a tramp trader, with no dedicated steward aboard, you either go with economy mealpax (57th Century MREs) or you have a Basic (see Dumarest) still running, and you live on that until you get into port, where Real Food becomes a possibility. If you're lucky, you have a Nth-Generation Microwave Oven to heat the mealpax in; otherwise, you get the brand that has the pull-tab-to-initiate-heat-cycle, and tolerate rubbery meat or pasta, lukewarm.

If you have a dedicated steward and take mid passengers, the mealpax - a high-end brand - can be heated in a convection oven (probably dual-mode with microwave) and prettied up and served on real plates - perhaps recyclable, but they shouldn't be too obviously so - with real flatware (ditto). Maybe once per trip, there will be a Special Meal where Real Food, like on a planet, is served.

Player-character ships probably can't take high passengers. They'll expect each meal - not less than two per day, and may be up to six depending on home culture - to be Real Food, prepared fresh. Plus cabin service at any time.

I realize some folks love this MRE look-a-like idea, but the idea that without a Steward folks forgot how to prep a meal just feels odd to me and breaks the verisimilitude for me. The idea that because you spend a week between ports does not seem like an excuse to pretend food cannot be stocked in the pantry. Now I am not expecting fancy 5 star meals, but do we really believe that ships cannot cook more than an MRE? Not in my setting and not on my table. What kind of ports are you docking at will make a lot of difference. Returning from a remote science station on a dead rock, then maybe SPAM and powdered eggs are on the breakfast menu. But just left a Class B or A port? Then there is no excuse for post-apocalyptic rationing of food in my opinion.

 

[Condottiere]

My expectation will be, that meals would be in aluminum type foils, and you'll pop it in a small cooker that heats it up, not necessarily a full microwave, or steamer.

Stews, will likely be powdered.

 

[Dragoner]

I realize some folks love this MRE look-a-like idea, but the idea that without a Steward folks forgot how to prep a meal just feels odd to me and breaks the verisimilitude for me. The idea that because you spend a week between ports does not seem like an excuse to pretend food cannot be stocked in the pantry. Now I am not expecting fancy 5 star meals, but do we really believe that ships cannot cook more than an MRE? Not in my setting and not on my table. What kind of ports are you docking at will make a lot of difference. Returning from a remote science station on a dead rock, then maybe SPAM and powdered eggs are on the breakfast menu. But just left a Class B or A port? Then there is no excuse for post-apocalyptic rationing of food in my opinion.

Esp when we already have food printers now. IMTU they load containers of "raws" and it prints them. Maybe an intmediate stage where there are vat grown steaks, packaged and frozen.

Steward is also the Purser, so they direct the crew in serving, usually senior NCO's serving. Drawn from this tradition:

A chief steward is the senior crew member working in the steward's department of a ship. Since there is no purser on most ships in the United States Merchant Marine, the steward is the senior person in the department, whence its name.

Chief steward - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org