An appeal to the Mods - it is after all lesser of two weevils to let the lads have their fun. (I know, not my line). The things I've seen come out of aircraft and ships galleys; well enough of the good old days. It's all relative :-
Food for thought
by Roy and Lesley Adkins
Captain Frederick Hoffman RN, (1793-1814), recalled how the food with which he was issued as a midshipman was best eaten in the dark.
"When the biscuits are manned, that is, infested by "bargemen",' he said, "they may be swallowed in this dark hole [the midshipmen's berth, lit only by candle-stubs], as it is next to an impossibility to detect them, except they quit their stow-holes and crawl out, and when they do, which is but seldom, they are made to run a race for a trifling wager. On the home station bargemen are scarcely known; it is only in warm climates where they abound. Another most destructive insect to the biscuit is the weevil, called by the mids purser's lice.'
So, it wasn't the food that attracted men to join the navy in Nelson's time!
Or was it? Even with recent history, it is easy to fall into the trap of judging conditions by present-day standards.
Lesser of two weevils - ho ho, ho ho ho etc.
