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Food preparation labor, minimal for the individually packaged food system used on ISS, represents a significant allocation of crew time in a bulk-packaged or bioregenerative food system. Direct measurements of active preparation time for individual dishes are insufficient to construct accurate estimates of food preparation labor costs when “cooking ahead” and “planned leftovers” strategies are employed, because active food preparation labor is not proportional to the number of servings of food prepared. Food preparation time was modeled as a function of batch size, based on the principle of fixed time requirements for quantity-independent preparation tasks and fixed plus marginal time requirements for quantity-dependent tasks. Videotapes of food preparation operations were used to measure the average duration of tasks such as measuring and stirring which are roughly independent of the amount of material processed.

The food processing and preparation subsystem for bioregenerative lifesupport must combine food produced in-situ with resupplied food ingredients to provide a nutritionally balanced, palatable and varied diet for the station crew. We have approached these goals by developing a database of individual foods including recipe and processing information, panel acceptance data, nutritional analyses and cost estimates. Subsequently a linear programming optimization is used to select from among these foods a low-cost diet subject to constraints on nutrient content, overall acceptability, variety, and crew labor input. The database design, preliminary sensory testing results, and an optimized 1-day food list are presented..