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Food for thought, Healthier eats means healthier Crew!!

Running a tight ship is becoming more difficult as ship owners and managers now have to take care of not only the crewmembers, but also their health. Obesity, heart disease, and other health problems are becoming a major concern in the health of these crewmembers as well as to the ship owners and managers. Age is an issue as well, however, it is mainly due to the diet and the sanitary conditions of the galley on the ship. A determining factor in the decision to use better nutritional food and supplies is, of course, cost. Cost often always prevails over dietary needs. Many ship owners and managers do not have the means to supply the cook with enough nutritional food or space used to store the food. Many of these crewmembers eat pre-packaged meals, such as TV dinners, which not only does not contain the right nutrition but also can be very high in salt, fat and caloric intake. Being a crewmember entails having high physical activity and bearing harsh weather conditions, therefore, the crewmembers have special nutritional diet needs. Their diet needs to consist of high carbohydrates and protein, which will give them energy and help to repair any damaged muscles in their bodies to help them to perform at their best.

Educating the crew on what they eat is also an essential part of making healthier choices for the crew. Letting the crew know what they are eating will, hopefully, inform them to make better choices such as grilled chicken rather than fried chicken. More information about nutrition and diet is being readily available along many ship owners and managers, such as Maersk Line and Wallem Ship Management. Not only do crewmembers want to have nutritional meals onboard, but also have diverse meals to suit the diversity of the crew and their needs. Cooks are now being trained on how to cook diverse meals from a wide variety of different cultures. They are also being taught on how to use one substance, but to be able to make a plethora of different meals out of it. When the food in the galley, or the galley in general, is not being cleaned crewmembers are more likely to have to leave the ship because of an illness, such as gastroenteritis. Food poisoning was also another common illness due to food being used after its’ expiration date or that it was not preserved or reheated properly. Basically, the ship needs to know what type of crew that they will have on board so that they can be prepared for the nutritional and diversity aspects of the crewmembers’ diets during the duration of travel.