IS REPLICATED MEAT VEGETARIAN?
(and other ponderings)

Contents

By the 23rd century: genetic modification and resequencing. The early definition of 'replication'. By the 24th century: replication using Federation transporter technology. Replicating an object without having the original object present. Industrial size replicators with large delivery pads. Versatility of 24th century replicators in the type of matter input and replicated output. Voyager's energy shortage contributes to the subject of replication. Page summary.

By the 23rd century: genetic modification and resequencing

Even as early as the mid-22nd century, replication technology of a kind is in use in Starfleet but not of the kind employed in the 24th century as Kim in [#44 Flashback] notes that in Captain Kirk's day there were no replicators:

Kim: "No replicators, no holodecks. You know, ever since I took Starfleet History at the Academy, I always wondered what it would be like to live in those days."

above: Kim talks about the the time when there were no replicators [#44 Flashback]

But the histories of Earth and Vulcan mean that the modern science of modifying or synthesising food began centuries before Chakotay was born (2324 or 2329 or 2335), though not that long before Tuvok was born (in 2264).

The writers of the canon book 'Star Trek Chronology' (they also compiled Encyclopaedia) conjecture Chakotay's birth year as 2335 but that book was published before [#171 and #172 Endgame] aired. The date 2324 or 2329 appears on Chakotay's tombstone in [#171 and #172 Endgame], the only time a date is given for him is given in the show. Here is a close-up of the tombstone so you can judge the date for yourself. Although the tombstone is seen in an alternate future and his date of death would change, his date of birth of course would not change. Tuvok was born in 2264, as in [#44 Flashback] he says he was 29 at the time of the 2293 Khitomer conference; the actual date of his birth was stardate 38774, [#146 and #147 Unimatrix Zero]. In [#143 Fury] Janeway jocularly chides Tuvok for keeping his age secret and says: "It took exhaustive research, sifting through teraquads of data, separating fact from rumour, but eventually I arrived at the truth." i.e. to discover his date of birth; she must be extending the joke because his birth date would be a matter of record and she could look it up quickly in the Starfleet database.

With regard to the stardate 1533.6, for the discrepancy in star dates, see Appendix I of ST Chronology which is reproduced on site at STAR DATES : Page 2: page by Michael & Denise Okuda in 'ST Chronology'.

In [Enterprise: Breaking The Ice] (year 2151), the starship NX-01 Enterprise's Captain Jonathan Archer answers questions from the students of a fourth grade class at an elementary school in Ireland. Answering the question 'what do you eat?' he replies:

Archer: "For the most part, the same things you eat at home. Our Chef can make anything from a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to turkey with all the trimmings. We have a hydroponic greenhouse onboard where we grow fruits and vegetables, and we can also replicate certain foods with our protein resequencer."

The early definition of 'replication'

It should be remembered that [Enterprise], set in the mid-22nd century, is the fifth Star Trek television series and therefore that many of the prequel development concepts were of course thought out with later Star Trek history and technological history already known. For example, the NX-01 Enterprise's ship-mounted phase cannons are actually precursors to the ship-mounted phasers seen in [TOS] which is set a hundred years later. The show's writers therefore had a need to fill in, technologically-speaking, what happened before the introduction of food replicators since they had already established in [#44 Flashback] that they did not exist even in Kirk's day (the 23rd century). Importantly, [Enterprise] establishes that genetically modifying food, whether partly or completely modifying it, counts as "replication" to people at the time. Archer cannot mean replication as in the 24th century transformation of matter at the molecular level. There is a distinction, however - genetically modified (GM) food means adaptation from already an existing foodstuff, protein resequencing as done in the NX-01 Enterprise's galley implies that protein of some kind (not necessarily from meat) is genetically altered. If in either case the raw material is completely modified, does it qualify for the 24th century definition of replication? i.e. the complete alteration of molecular bonds? It would seem that 2151-onwards any food not in its original, unmodified form, is thought of by those in Starfleet as replicated. Part of the problem in keeping the various processes distinct in the mind is that "to replicate" simply means "to copy" and is a loose term. How the NX-01 Enterprise crew accept GM food or protein-resequenced food is rather different from how we in the early 21st century think of it, because there is still resistance from consumer organisations due to the perceived or actual unwillingness of GM food producers to provide information about their products. It is possible that food production will develop in the 'real' world along the same lines as those in the Star Trek universe. There are already food shortages and steep price increases in the early 21st century and consensus predict the situation worsening. In the 'real' world, the causes are existing and rising massive fuel and water demands and unchecked rising pollution from emerging nations such as China, combined with the global shift from growing wheat for food to growing it for bio-fuels. (Gathering evidence suggests that bio-fuels do not have environmental advantages which outweigh the environmental costs, so governments might seek to stall or reverse that trend in order to grow more wheat for food.) Whereas, in the Star Trek universe, food and fuel shortages will inevitably be caused by 2053's World War III and the subsequent decade of post-atomic horror. Either way, it is likely that the quantity and variety of genetically modified foodstuffs, superfoods etc. will increase, in order to alleviate shortages and meet the demands of an increasing population. Star Trek does have a knack for predicting or even precipitating change e.g. the equivalent of PADDs. But importantly, there is no mention in [Enterprise] that any material is used as the raw material for food production. This allows science to be seen to develop plausibly from the genetic modifiers and protein resequencers of the 22nd century, to the synthesisers of the 23rd century, to the replicators of the 24th century.

By the 24th century: replication using Federation transporter technology

Replication, which produces a copy of the food or drink, is one stage further on than synthesising food by genetic modification in whole or part, although strictly speaking it is still synthesising food. That Federation replicators produce copies is already established in Star Trek before [Voyager] first aired. It is these replicators, which were in use in the 24th century, which one thinks of almost exclusively when the term "replication" is used. They are seen in use aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D in 2364, the year that Federation Starship began its mission to Farpoint Station in [TNG: Encounter At Farpoint], and that pre-dates USS Voyager's construction by several years. It is important to understand how replicators work. They are pieces of sophisticated equipment which utilise Federation transporter technology to dematerialise a quantity of matter and then to rematerialise it in another form. To do this, they use a phase-transition coil chamber in which a measured quantity of raw material is dematerialised in a manner similar to that of a standard transporter. But unlike a standard transporter, no molecular imaging scanners are used to derive analog pattern data of the original material. Instead, a sophisticated quantum geometry transformational matrix field modifies the matter stream to conform to a digitally stored molecular pattern matrix. The matter stream is then routed through a network of waveguide conduits that direct the signal to a replicator terminal at which the desired article is materialised within another phase transition chamber. The digitally stored template of the item to be replicated is pre-programmed into the computer software by the following method - to create a new data template, the object to be replicated is placed within the replicator chamber, and a series of molecular imaging scanners reads the quantum geometry of the material. The template is then stored within the replicator's database. By the 24th century such imaging scanners can be handheld objects and thus easily portable, such as the holo-imager device used to capture holographic images for use in holodeck and holosuite programs used by Quark in 2371 in [DS9: Meridian].

Replicating an object without having the original object present

Furthermore, the object to be replicated (by creating a data template of it) in replicators of [Voyager]'s era does not need to be present, or indeed actually exist yet, so long as the object's parameters are programmed. In that way, Kim takes the parameters of the children's holodeck character Flotter to produce a Flotter toy for Naomi Wildman in 2375, in [#99 Once Upon A Time], although the process may be easier because Flotter is already programmed into the ship's computer as a holodeck character (see below for discussion of the distinction between replicators and holodeck reactors). This ability to replicate items without having the original object present is a major development in the sophistication of computer programming, an inevitable technological development it would seem in retrospect, and is significant for reasons of television drama for the flexibility it offers in storylines.

above: Kim replicates a Flotter toy [#99 Once Upon A Time]

Industrial size replicators with large delivery pads

Use of industrial-size replicators is one of the ways that Starfleet manufactures starships, starbases and other spaceborne or planetside facilities, from large components to small. Industrial replicators are constructed in a variety of sizes depending on the specific application and intended location, with the largest Starfleet unit to date being located at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, planet Mars, where USS Voyager was constructed. These replicator units have a delivery pad measuring 50.3 metres by 72.6 metres. The device produces large starship framing assemblies. The size of the delivery pad figures in later discussion. As noted in [DS9: For The Cause], the Federation Council, eager to maintain ties with the Cardassians, agreed to provide twelve industrial replicators to the Cardassian government, but the replicators were hijacked by members of the Maquis.

above: Utopia Planitia, at the time when the construction USS Voyager is nearing completion [#118 Relativity]

Versatility of 24th century replicators in the type of matter input and replicated output

Most early Starfleet production-version replicators were not designed with imaging scanners. A few imaging scanners were placed aboard each starship and starbase in order to enter new items into the database, and to break down used dishware for return to the general matter supply. In other words, most early Starfleet replicators were installed with a menu of programmed items but they did not possess the ability to replicate new items. One advantage of the later replicators is that the raw material (organic such as protein, or inorganic such as a pile of building bricks) can be processed to create a bowl of soup i.e. both the soup and the bowl plus a soup spoon. However, [DS9] Tech says that overall raw food stock is maintained as a subset of the general matter supply. It could indicate, but does not necessarily indicate, that one type of different matter is used to replicate food and another type of matter used to replicate the dishware. Food replicators are dedicated or restricted to (or are merely primarily used for) the production of replicated food and drink.

above: pile of bricks

above: atoms

above: banana pancakes, maple syrup, banana slices on top, icing sugar, and plate; Torres replicates banana pancakes with maple syrup in [#97 Extreme Risk]

above: pile of bricks

above: atoms

above: a healthy salad, with plate; Paris says he replicated the salad himself in [#75 Scientific Method]

above: pile of bricks

above: atoms

above: champagne, in a suitable bottle; Neelix replicates a 2342 Mouton Rothschild for Paris in [#119 Warhead]

[Voyager]'s energy shortage contributes to the subject of replication

Replicators are also installed aboard Federation starships to provide a much wider variety of meal choices to crewmembers than would be available if actual foodstuffs had to be carried, since the selection available is limited only by computer software. After Voyager arrives in the Delta Quadrant, due to the need to conserve power, Neelix converts the captain's private dining cabin adjacent to the Messhall into a Galley where he prepares meals prepared from real ingredients wherever possible, and henceforth the Messhall contains only two food replicators for general use (although Neelix is often the one who operates them on behalf of crewmembers) - one on the starboard wall, one on the port wall. Senior officers have the privilege of a replicator in their private quarters, which they can use to obtain food and drink as well as other items.

TOSTFF explains that there are, reasonably enough, a number of junior messes on the ship, although these are not seen or mentioned in the series, and presumably these are equipped with food replicators. With the proliferation and increased sophistication of replicator technology, by the 24th century no foodstuff or potable liquid is out of reach. Therefore, the economy measures in place aboard USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant as regards replication is a significant dramatic device - it reinforces the remoteness and isolation of this single Federation Starship. Foraging for or seeking to trade for food and other supplies provides a background to several episodes. (It is only in the much later story, [#120 and #121 Equinox], that we learn Voyager was not the only Federation Starship taken into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker.)

PAGE SUMMARY

1. The modern science of modifying or synthesising food began centuries before Voyager's era. The late 20th and early 21st Earth centuries (the era of television viewers watching [Voyager]) saw the development of genetically modified (GM) foods, 'superfoods', and non-meat substitutes for meat. In the mid-22nd century, as depicted in [Enterprise], partly or wholly genetically modifying food counts as "replication" to people at the time, although it is not replication as in the 24th century transformation of matter at the molecular level. There is a distinction - genetically modified (GM) food means adaptation from already an existing foodstuff, protein resequencing as done in the NX-01 Enterprise's galley implies that protein of some kind (not necessarily from meat) is genetically altered. It would seem that 2151-onwards any food not in its original, unmodified form, is thought of by those in Starfleet as replicated. Part of the problem in keeping the various processes distinct in the mind is that "to replicate" simply means "to copy" and is a loose term.
2. Replication, which produces a copy of the food or drink, is one stage further on than synthesising food by genetic modification in whole or part, although strictly speaking it is still synthesising food. That Federation replicators produce copies is already established in Star Trek before [Voyager] first aired.
3. By the 24th century, replicators utilise Federation transporter technology to dematerialise a quantity of matter and then to rematerialise it in another form using a pre-programmed template of the form. To create the template, the object to be replicated is placed within the replicator chamber, and a series of molecular imaging scanners reads the quantum geometry of the material. The template is then stored within the replicator's database. As seen in [Voyager], the object to be replicated does not need to be present provided accurate enough details about it are programmed.
4. The matter input to create the 'raw food stock' (a term from the canon source '[DS9] Tech') can be organic or inorganic. This means that unwanted or leftover food and drink can be recycled into the replicator. In addition, dishware, or any non-edible item not even associated with food, can be recycled in the same way.
5. As replicators operate by breaking down matter input at the molecular level then re-forming it as something else, they can also produce the food or drink within appropriate dishware.
6. Replicators are installed aboard Federation starships to provide a much wider variety of meal choices than would be available if actual foodstuffs had to be carried, since the selection available is limited only by computer software.
7. When USS Voyager begins the long journey homeward, replicator use is rationed in order to conserve energy supplies. Neelix appoints himself the ship's cook and installs a galley to cook food from real ingredients. The ingredients are mostly obtained by trade or foraging.

ARTWORK CREDIT
Thanks to Tropical Nights for the food border. I extracted and used the edging too. I chose Tropical Nights' set to recall the bar counter in the Paxau Resort holoprogram - screenshot from [#52 Warlord].