Im very skeptical.
some time ago there was a PBS series called " Carrier "
a film crew spent a ' cruse ' on the USS Nimitz from SanDiego to the persian gulf and back
http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/
it followed a dozen or so Sailors both enlisted and officers for the cruse.
one was an enlisted woman who worked in the kitchens. she of course had to lug 60 lbs sacks of pancake mix while
the Chiefpetty officer loafed around. but that;s the Navy.
the issue w the food was that there was a tremendous amount of waste : you took all you wanted
then dumped what you did not eat. if less were taken , there would be better ingredients and more nuanced cooking
for the enlisted personal.
the food looked OK to me on the show. a bit starchy but there were salad bars etc.
and there was no 1 hour waiting. for 5000 hungry people , 4 meals a day , the amount of food was staggering
and the eggs were fresh , having a huge refrigerator just for them
one episode featured resupply of food as a segment. fascinating.
and the officers ate the same basic ingredients as the enlisted men.
however it was better prepared.
the Admiral had his own Mess , and when invited dignitaries dinned in that mess , it looked like a stared restaurant.
so I doubt the military ( i.e. prisoner ) dsignations
I might be wrong.
if you get a chance to see these episodes , I highly recommend them.
they are gripping , showing aloo sorts of Walks of Life Ive never encountered.
The food service woman , a late teen ager from the rural south explained why she enlisted for food service :
she said after her term was up , she would be better trained than any of her friends and
would get a much better job in the Food Industry , as her friends were limited to flipping burgers at McDonalds
extremely interesting show.
and as a PS : this is not an anti war series , but quite factual and showing what a cruse was like on a
massive aircraft carrier .
watch it here :
http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/full_episodes.htm
this is a segment on " Mess decks "
http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/full_episodes.htm
go to episode one , there is a drop down menu
select chapter 3
Bon Apetit
