Rumours about the captain's food can undermine trust

Will a crew accept poor food if the captain eats the same meals?

The perception of privilege matters: a crew can believe the captain eats better even when everyone receives the same food.

Captains often eat alone because of their duties, making their meals less visible to the crew. That separation can encourage assumptions that they receive special food. Dr. Clarke recalls a hard-working captain on a Western ship, explicitly outside the Royal Navy, whose sandwich and crisps became a much better meal in the crew's rumours. The captain's poor communication and limited popularity made those assumptions difficult to counter, despite the food actually being the same.