How Aircraft Carriers Make 17,000 Meals A Day For US Navy Sailors

An aircraft carrier may have more than 5,000 sailors on board. To feed all the sailors on an aircraft carrier, more than 17,000 meals must be prepared daily. There are more than 100 cooks on board, which seems like a culinary miracle, but is it? How are meals prepared for such a large number of sailors?
When the ship first starts its deployment, there is a lot of fresh food on board. As the weeks go by and the fresh food becomes more and more depleted, frozen or canned food may be used. But that doesn't mean that the sailors won't get any fresh food at all. The ship has what is called an underway replenishment, the replenishment ship has a lot of fresh food on board that is delivered to the aircraft carrier while it is at sea and underway, and the crew starts the cycle all over again. Also when the ship enters port, it usually has fresh food ready to be stored for the crew.
About 17,000 meals are produced daily by around 93 Culinary Specialists staff. These meals range from breakfasts served at 6 a.m. to midnight rations. Planning is essential to accomplish this goal; the ship's cooks adhere to a menu cycle that lasts for 15 days and receive resupplies at sea once every week, including both dry and fresh commodities.
The 5,000 crew aboard an aircraft carrier can consume 1,600 pounds of chicken, 160 gallons of milk, 30 cases of cereal, and 350 pounds of lettuce in a single day. Everything is produced in enormous quantities. Cooks are required to constantly prepare meals, do various activities, and undergo training to learn new responsibilities.
All galleys on carriers are sufficiently supplied. After every seven to ten days, a supply ship will bring between 400,000 and 1 million pounds of food. When there is a need for variation in the deliveries, it is not uncommon for regional foods to be included, such as feta cheese from Greece. #aircraftcarrier #usnavy #sailors

[carloscortes]

Hey! Not everyone can be a fighter jet pilot..they need everyone. From cooks, doctors, atc, firemen, nurse, electrical engineer, laundry, environmental services ( janitors) etc etc

[johnmchale]

I was in the Army.I am not picky about food.They did a great job feeding us.The best meal I had was on a troop ship on Easter Sunday.God bless our military!

[FasterDrivers]

This is the true power of the American military. You conquer the world with food!

[BeachsideHank]

I can give you a perspective of in the military, you learn to improvise, adapt, and overcome if you want to eat when the chow line is closed. While a young sailor in the Navy some 55 years ago, I was assigned to a fireroom (boiler space) of a WWII vintage Gearing destroyer, we had one of our guys up on a working party loading food supplies, he tossed a case of lobster tails down our hole. We cooked 'em in a galvanized bucket using the 150 lb. root steam drain for the bilge pump. We'd also "acquire" potatoes from the spud locker up on ASROC deck and cook 'em in the mud drum during the midwatch; officers never came down our hole but once a year for space inspection, the heat, the smell, the black oil and the legends of brutish snipes kept 'em away. ☺

[arnoldhenry]

I was a cook on two aircraft carriers, a replenishment oiler, and an amphibious assault ship. Actually, there are more than two galleys. The officers' mess is called the wardroom, with their own menu, galley, and cooks and the Chief Petty Officers (CPOs) have their own mess and their own menu, galley, and cooks. While the E6s and lower ranks eat off trays, the officers have their meals on real plates, cups and saucers, and nice silverware. It doesn't matter what type of ship, the officers don't eat with the enlisted. All 4 ships I was stationed on the officers have their wardroom mess.

[TeachinTV]

When you're serving 5, 000 people 17, 000 meals a day, that's what they do on cruise ships now. Yet, when I've been aboard and toured galleys aboard cruise ships and aircraft carriers, I was struck at how much smaller the ones on carriers are. With fewer people in more constricted workspaces, whether it was in the butcher shop or bakery, I'm totally impressed at the way they handle the logistics of moving food and supplies around and manage time, all to please their crew.

[johnw]

My Dad was on an Armored Troop Transport in WW2 in the Pacific. He was a corpsman. He said that they had to eat chili for 6 months straight.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
After he got out of the Navy in 1947. He never ate chili again.

He grew up in the Depression, and all they had to eat was popcorn.
He joined the Navy at 15, Grandma helped him slide in.
He was in the Navy before the War. He said the first time he saw Pearl Harbir it was still smoldering.

He passed 10 years ago.
I miss him like it was yesterday.

[FerretJohn]

When I went in I was convinced to go in as an Operations specialist, an important but general dull job with no real translation in the civilian world. If I could go back in time and do it all over again I would have taken Culinary Specialist, I like cooking and there's always a demand everywhere for a quality chef

[badmutherfunster]

It doesn't matter what your role is on board its all important, Never down play what you have done or feel your job wasn't worth it, you served your country and did your best

[spydude]

I remember mess cranking back in the day and having to be on a 50 man working party to bring on FFV. One of the cases of frozen meat I grabbed was clearly stamped, "Rejected by U.S. Air Force". I found that rather troubling. That said, Navy chow has gotten better and better. Carrier Sailors eat well and the ship usually never runs out of things. The smaller ships on the other hand had pretty good chow too, but they would often run out of certain items until the next UNREP which could be a while in some cases.

[dustinrettig]

As a Chef, I can't imagine having to do the ordering and menu for an Aircraft carrier. I can call my supplier or go a couple blocks to Kroger if I forget something. I'm not in the middle of the ocean. Cheers to the Navy Chefs!

[funkkymonkey]

Recruiting officers should go around high school and college cafeterias with pictures of the food.

[johnknapp]

Spent most of my cruising time on FF's. You usually only had one or two senior cooks. Depending on how good your cooks were depended on how good the meals were. One unfortunate "stormy" night, we had chili for dinner with the expected outcome.
But I can say that I never lost weight on Navy chow.

[captaintrips]

Retired chef here. I loved cooking for the masses and this job looks like fun. Nice galley arrangements and everything well organized.

But I hate boats.

[divinewind]

I read somewhere that the best cooks are deployed in submarines as they have to make with few and submarines are not replenished as frequently as the surface ships.

[mbran]

Everywhere from Boot Camp to State-side bases to deployed bases in the Middle-East, meal time is often a highlight in high paced, stressful days. In over 12 years of service, I can honestly say the food very rarely misses. Big props to upper management for understanding the mood and moral boost that comes from sitting down to a good meal.

Even the MREs given when working in the field are pretty good. It's obvious a LOT of time, research, and care goes into making them.

[penultimateh]

I was in the service (not the navy) and I was always flabbergasted by their ability to provide hot chow under any conditions, on the first day of a deployment. I'm guessing Russia can't do that...

[neubauerjoseph]

As someone who did that onboard Nimitz we didn’t get up at 3am. We got up at 6am got in at 7pm worked 12-16 hours a day. You have some of the tough working conditions. You have to shower every day, lots of cleaning, some of the most hours on the ship. Always busy, but it’s cool because you have access to the best food on the ship. Also wasn’t hungry.

[kdyooper]

Best soup I’ve ever had was in a restaurant in Sheboygan Falls: he was once a naval cook. May he rest in peace and thankful for his service.

[Pete_]

Makes me so proud of these sailors! It's an incredible amount of work and dedication to the team. Thank you all for your service to our country. Again, I am so incredibly proud of you!
Best, from Mesa, Arizona.