Now that I've been home for a few weeks, I've been asked several great questions from friends and family about daily life at the South Pole. One of the most common questions is: What did you eat?
Unlike my southern California diet of fresh fruit, fish and salads, food at the South Pole is...well, how do I put this politely, errr, not so fresh. The food and snacks that we ate Pole had to travel thousands of miles to get to us and in the process have aged, just a bit. Overall, the three warm meals prepared by the kitchen staff daily were quite delicious given the many limitations and products they were working with. Most of the meals consisted of a meat product, such as steak or chicken, a carbohydrate like rice or potatoes, and several side dishes. Fresh fruits and vegetables were available during short periods of time after a "freshie" delivery was made by the arrival of a C-130 flight from McMurdo. Freshies typically arrived every 3 weeks and were consumed very quickly!
Working outside in the cold temperatures causes the body to burn excessive amounts of calories. A typical person will burn around 5,000 calories per day and therefore, the food must be high in calories. Eventually, I became tired of having to eat so much. It literally became exhausting to have to chew so much food! I found that in the mornings, I was usually unable to consume enough food to stay warm and by an hour or two into my work shift, I was very cold and tired. I would go into the break room at the drill site and make hot chocolate and melt Oreos and Chips Ahoy cookies in it and then drink it. I know it wasn't a healthy choice, but it definitely had the calories I needed to stay warm.
Many of the snacks at Pole were many years expired. It is a common joke with people that have been on the ice about how old the food is that we eat everyday. Some of the Oreos were 9 years expired! They still tasted delicious though - they've been frozen the whole time.
Either way, the food was good enough to provide nourishment and old enough to remind me how thankful I am to eat fresh fruit and veggies everyday back here in SoCal.
Unlike my southern California diet of fresh fruit, fish and salads, food at the South Pole is...well, how do I put this politely, errr, not so fresh. The food and snacks that we ate Pole had to travel thousands of miles to get to us and in the process have aged, just a bit. Overall, the three warm meals prepared by the kitchen staff daily were quite delicious given the many limitations and products they were working with. Most of the meals consisted of a meat product, such as steak or chicken, a carbohydrate like rice or potatoes, and several side dishes. Fresh fruits and vegetables were available during short periods of time after a "freshie" delivery was made by the arrival of a C-130 flight from McMurdo. Freshies typically arrived every 3 weeks and were consumed very quickly!
Working outside in the cold temperatures causes the body to burn excessive amounts of calories. A typical person will burn around 5,000 calories per day and therefore, the food must be high in calories. Eventually, I became tired of having to eat so much. It literally became exhausting to have to chew so much food! I found that in the mornings, I was usually unable to consume enough food to stay warm and by an hour or two into my work shift, I was very cold and tired. I would go into the break room at the drill site and make hot chocolate and melt Oreos and Chips Ahoy cookies in it and then drink it. I know it wasn't a healthy choice, but it definitely had the calories I needed to stay warm.
Many of the snacks at Pole were many years expired. It is a common joke with people that have been on the ice about how old the food is that we eat everyday. Some of the Oreos were 9 years expired! They still tasted delicious though - they've been frozen the whole time.
Either way, the food was good enough to provide nourishment and old enough to remind me how thankful I am to eat fresh fruit and veggies everyday back here in SoCal.