The importance of eating local: slaughter and scurvy in Antarctic cuisine

► Consumption of wildlife was necessary in early Antarctic exploration. ► Expeditions ate seals and penguins for logistical reasons and for culinary variety. ► Fresh meat, lightly cooked, was important for the prevention and cure of scurvy. ► Scurvy persisted unnecessarily into early twentieth century Antarctic exploration. ► Nineteenth century theories in medical science hindered progress in understanding scurvy.