Food card redirects here; for the similarly named type of microtape, please see card.
A ration card, known informally as a food card, was a 21st century form of identification issued by social workers to residents of San Francisco Sanctuary Districts on Earth. They allowed the inhabitants access to subsidized food and water at any of the distribution points in the district.
They were uniquely assigned to specific residents, but despite this, ghosts, like B.C., stole the ration cards of Sanctuary District A's weaker residents. Following the death of Gabriel Bell, Julian Bashir was able to identify the deceased from his food card. (DS9: "Past Tense, Part I")
The ration cards were issued by the "Errand of Mercy Meal Support" (a reference to the TOS Season 1 episode "Errand of Mercy"). They also give the names of two San Francisco government officials: Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer, a nod to the British television series Red Dwarf. (Star Trek Encyclopedia (3rd ed., p. 427))
See also[]
External link[]
- Ration card at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works