Hi all, Ric here. Travelling through space is a taxing affair, less so in the universe
of Star Trek what with the invention of gravity plating, warp travel, transporters and the
easy access to plentiful foodstuffs. Currently, meals for astronauts are prepared
on earth and shipped to the international space station. These products undergo an extensive
process of conversion, drying, sterilising and finally containment to make them suitable
for consumption in microgravity. This has long been the biggest obstacle in the suitability
of foods for current astronauts. Much of the food, wrapped in sealed, preserving
and airtight wrappers or tins, are dehydrated and need to have water added to them to return
them to a palatable state. The water present on the International Space Station is partly
imported from the Earth, but as this is costly, a more practical solution for a contained
system is to recycle waste by purifying it. Even the packaging itself was used to aid
in dining as the flaps of an opened wrapper would also act to keep the food from floating
away. These dried meals have come a long way from
the first space-foods, being vastly improved in flavour and variety. Originally these foods
resembled pastes and cubes of dried and liquidated produce. Yuri Gagarin for example had to put
up with a Meat puree tube. Mmm. Sounds…delectable. In the time of Starfleet, 2151, the NX project
launched its first deep space exploratory vessel, the NX-01, Enterprise. By this time,
the struggles of overcoming zero G had been negated by the creation of gravimetric plating
allowing for Earth normal gravity on board a starship. Far from the only quality of life
improvement in space, it is nonetheless a seldom appreciated addition that shaped all
future space exploration. Ships no longer needed to rotate to create centrifugal force,
pioneers no longer needed to exercise for two hours a day just to avoid wasting away.
And food? Food could be eaten, sitting down with utensils in a mess hall.
Part of the initial crew of the Enterprise included a chef whose sole job was to prepare
meals for the crew from a vast reserve of stores. Another addition was the Protein resequencer
a device that was able to produce a variety of synthesised foods from a protein base.
The NX-01 was stocked to supply food for a long time but the reserves were used in conjunction
with the resequencer, but many in the crew claimed to be able to tell the difference
between the artificially created food and the dishes from chef’s galley. By the term
resequence r, we can presume that the device analyses a strand of molecules and is able
to recombine them, with other compounds into a variety of consumables. It is likely therefore
that the food originates from a form of fuel, maybe even a generic protein compound that
could be stored for later use. I’d even speculate that the leftovers from the galley
as well as expired food could be added to this source to recycle them. That’s is mostly
guesswork, but it seems to make sense for an isolated and contained system.
The vessel also engaged in trade and cultural exchange to obtain extra provisions, after
all, this was part of its mission statement, to encounter new cultures and share.
The NX-01 also had a hydroponics bay, from which fresh produce could be grown throughout
its mission and a water purifier which served a similar purpose as the real life equivalent.
The presence of running water showers on the NX-01, shows that this water purifying system
was efficient enough to allow frequent use from its entire crew.
The Vulcan people were more advanced in most areas over the early Starfleet and most homes
and Starships possessed entire Food Synthesizers. These devices seemed to operate in a similar
way to the Protein resequencer, but as the name suggests, could create a much larger
library of edibles from constituent compounds. By the 23rd century, the protein re-sequencer
had been phased out of use, likely with the formation of the United Federation of Planets
in 2161 and the addition of Vulcan’s technology to Starfleet.
The “food slot”, as it was colloquially known was placed throughout the mess halls
of star ships and had a much wider selection of meals and drinks than the previous versions.
The convenience of this system meant that it mostly overtook naturally cultivated food
reserves on the ship and this was supported by the lack of a hydroponics bay on the constitution
class. In fact, with the deep space nature of a constitution class, which was designed
to operate for five years without a major resupply or repair, it makes sense to limit
the amount of cargo in favour of a renewable, efficient closed system. There was still an
advanced water purification system and a waste recycling facility though.
In addition to a library of information, data cards could be used to contain the exact formula
for ingredients and algorithms required to produce a meal or beverage. Simply walking
to the keypad, selecting an item from the menu or inserting your own selection would
allow the food synthesizer to literally assemble the food from a molecular level. Commonly
seen throughout the series were the presence of these small coloured cubes, proabably inspired
by the (at the time) real life counterparts to space foods. Honestly can’t say they
look that appealing. In the 2270’s it seems that there was still
a defined kitchen galley area where crew members could prepare food. The presence of “food
slots” here suggests that perhaps ingredients were manufactured and then prepared by individuals
who wished to create their own meal. By the time we get to the Next Generation
era of shows, the 2360s and onwards, replicator technology was a staple of Starship design.
In fact, it was such a revolution that it led to the progression of several fields such
as the holodeck and major use in the industrial sector. A replicator could produce a wide
range of items for almost any purpose with only a small list of materials that were considered
unreplacateable, like Dilithium and Latinum. On the topic of food however, the replicator
could create foods from even specific restaurants based on the computer’s ability to research
and collate data on the requested dish. Unlike the previous synthesisers and resequencers,
the replicator was able to convert almost any matter into energy signatures then reconstitute
it into a new form of matter akin to a transporter. They utilised a matter-energy conversion matrix
that could even be converted into a small range transporter with the right know-how.
Showing just how similar the two technologies really were.
Most food consumed on a starship by this time was replicated from this matter conversion
process, even meats, vegetables and everything. So you could say that in the trek universe,
most humans were technically vegan, I guess? Many restaurants on Earth and other federation
worlds still produced non-replicated meals and even offered that fact as a selling point
to drive custom. A common sentiment was that replicated food was not as nutritious or tasted
unreal. The nutrients of naturally grown food was likely not actually any different from
a replicated meal but it’s not hard to imagine that the taste produced from a mathematical
formula would taste the same every time, just as an equation produces a single outcome.
Basically, it could lack that human flair, well for the humans anyway.
All along the promenade of DS9, you can find venders flaunting their home made foods, Quark’s
Bar selling a wide selection of alcohol from all across the quadrant(s) and for the most
part, business is thriving. Part of this is because of the myriad of cultures passing
through the station that simply prefer organically prepared food, don’t know how to use the
replicators or have a bias against them. Perhaps their own tech isn’t up to par with the
Federation’s or they had a bad experience eating out involving a mispronunciation of
the French term for chicken stewed in wine. Because of the vast uses for a replicator,
the device was restricted more by programming than inability. For example, without authorisation
or tampering, any alcoholic beverage would have the alcohol replaced with synthehol.
It also was incapable of producing fatally toxic substances. For the most part. Also
it wouldn’t produce weapons, but then what if you needed a steak knife? And any boiling
drink could be thrown. Though apparently it was standard practice for a replicator to
be completely disabled in the quarters of a known criminal to just fully negate the
possibility of replicating a weapon. It was also not an insubstantial power drain
and while a warp core is an incredible source of power producing easily 12.75 billion gigawatts,
when the USS Voyager found itself stranded In the Delta quadrant, they began to ration
the replicator usage, imposing a token system. Admittedly they were planning for up to a
70 year journey at the time and incorporated a hydroponics system and employed a Talaxian
native as a chef, with mixed results. Clearly the use of a replicator to create almost anything
is limited by the power required, not the materials like earlier synthesisers. The replicator
is frequently seen producing the containers, cutlery plates and condiments for a meal alongside
the food too, another difference from the original technology.
In any time frame, the addition of personal stores of drinks and foods were a common practice
and as long as it posed no threat to the ship or crew, many consumables were brought onto
a starship at the crew’s discretion. Many a captain smuggled aboard a cheeky bottle
of Romulan Ale. And of course, MREs, that is meals ready to
eat were kept in reservation as rations aboard every starship. These were present for the
use of emergencies, in case the power went out effectively disabling the replicators,
or for similar survival reasons. They were present on shuttlecraft too and often part
of standard issue survival packs, providing a suitable alternative if a replicator wasn’t
available. Honestly they don’t look half-bad. Though apparently they do taste worse than
they look. If you were lucky enough to crash on a planet, you could always attempt to forage
for food, or hunt the wildlife too, but this was part of Starfleet survival training, not
an everyday activity. Some cultures, like the Klingons heavily disliked replicated food
and preferred to import their own or better yet, hunt it themselves.
This topic is one of those things that I feel gets often taken for granted in Star Trek,
mostly because of the post-scarcity nature of most resources in the Federation. But imagine
how morale would tank if the food sucked on a 5 year mission in deep space and I know
I’ve wished to be able to just push a button and get a specific food instantly. Or be able
to just put my used utensils in a replicator and watch them vanish. I mean I could always
get a dishwasher and order take away every day but that’s expensive.
It’s fun to see how it tech first started as a basic recombining of protein structures
in Enterprise to the Discovery and TOS era synthesisers that operated on the same principle,
but with a much wider catalogue. But both these relied on recombining materials into
an edible form, unlike the replicator which actually converted matter into energy where
it was effectively more malleable. The replicator in particular required so many
other technologies for it to function, like power consumption, transporters and so on
that it was integrated into things like the holodeck to create physical constructs of
foods as part of a program. Our current 3D printers can manufacture food based on data
files, but it is still being constructed out of raw food materials contained in capsules.
So it’s much closer to the food synthesiser than a full blown matter-energy converter
like Deep Space 9’s replimat. That still lies in the realms of science fiction and
firmly entrenched in Trek’s starship design. Thanks for watching this video, I was watching
documentaries about the international space station and the chore that small activities
become in zero G; a huge quality of life change in space. Makes me appreciate the convenience
of gravity. Not that gravity is just for my convenience, more like a universal constant
in physics as we understand the nature of space-time. But hey, let’s not get too heavy
with the real science. Get it heavy? Cos weight, gravity- I’m just gonna go, thanks again
for watching, you’ve been awesome, and goodbye.