After the crash of Flight 815, the survivors' main sources of food are fruit collected from the jungle, fish from the ocean, and DHARMA food from the Swan or the supply drop.
Foods gathered by the survivors
The survivors have several sources of food, but mainly just protein and carbohydrates. The survivors used remaining airplane food as their main source of food until it ran out and they started resorting to hunting and fishing for food. ("Walkabout") This is depicted when Hurley delivers two trays of it to Claire. ("Pilot, Part 1")
Protein
- Meat, Pork from feral boars, generally hunted and killed by John Locke. (However, since filming with boars was found to be a production nightmare (Lost: On Location (Season 1)), boar has been deemphasized as part of the Lostaway diet.)
- Seafood, including fish and sea urchin, usually procured by Jin, who was raised by a fisherman. He also got mussels, which can be pulled off the rocks at the beach.
- Fish, Jin was seen chopping a fish on board The Elizabeth. ("The Glass Ballerina") The red fish was likely an Onaga, a deep-water fish unlikely to be caught fishing off a sailboat.
- Chicken, The Tailies successfully caught, killed and cooked up a feral chicken. However, chickens have not been seen near the main camp. ("The Other 48 Days")
- Eggs, Danielle is depicted in a deleted scene on the Season 1 DVDs as eating a raw egg, likely liberated from a bird's nest. In addition, in a deleted scene on the Season 2 DVDs, Rose is seen cooking powdered eggs.
- Rabbits, Nathan and Bernard build a a trap which is supposed to catch rabbits. ("The Other 48 Days") and later Alex is seen skinning a rabbit. ("Greatest Hits")
Carbohydrates
- Fruit, including plantains, bananas, mangos, passion fruit, guava, and papayas, often gathered by Kate.
- Coconut, the survivors' nutrition is highly based on coconut milk and the flesh of the coconut.
- Orange, Locke is seen eating an orange as Kate removes a pair of boots from a corpse. ("Pilot, Part 1")
- Papayas seem to be plentiful on the Island and have become a staple for the Flight 815 survivors. ("...In Translation")
- Herbs, the contents of Sun's garden, have not been specifically identified, but both herbs (which may be either medicinal and/or edible) and fruit tree saplings (specifically guava, passion fruit, and mango) have been mentioned. ("Hearts and Minds") Tomatoes were also grown in the garden and even survived for three years without being tended to. ("The Package")
DHARMA-branded foods
The DHARMA Initiative provides a range of DHARMA-branded staples familiar to consumers of a Western diet. This food, originally discovered in the Swan, was the source of a large feast. ("Everybody Hates Hugo") The survivors later obtained more DHARMA foods from a supply drop. ("Dave") Some of these foods have an unnaturally long shelf life, as the ranch dressing, at least, can last for seven years without refrigeration.Much of the food is labeled DI 9FFTR731.
- List of DHARMA-supplied food:
- Peanut Butter ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
- Apollo Bars ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
- Ranch Composite
- Dharmalars ("S.O.S.")
- Wine, Merlot ("Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1") ("LaFleur"), Cabernet ("Two for the Road") ("The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt"), and other unnamed types of both red ("Eggtown") and white wine ("Two for the Road").
- Rum ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 3")
- Whiskey ("The Substitute")
- Macaroni and Cheese Supper ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
- Green Beans
- Salami sausage ("Two for the Road")
- Chocolate cream cookies ("Dave")
- Nutribar ("Live Together, Die Alone")
- Boned Chicken ("Adrift")
- Fish crackers ("A Tale of Two Cities")
- Tuna ("Everybody Hates Hugo")
- Olive oil ("Adrift")
- Ketchup ("Adrift")
- Pickles ("Adrift")
- Legumes ("Adrift")
- Vegetable oil ("Adrift")
- Pasta ("Adrift")
- Apple cider ("Adrift")
- Peaches ("Adrift")
- “Crepes Au Chocolat” ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Bottled water ("A Tale of Two Cities")
- Soda Crackers ("Enter 77")
- Tomato Sauce
- Olives("Adrift")
- Pork and Beans("Adrift")
- Whole Wheat Kernel Corn("Adrift")
- Mushrooms ("Adrift")
- Beer and Light Beer ("Tricia Tanaka Is Dead") ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
- "Mountain Dew" like beverage
- Spiced Pork and Ham ("The Man from Tallahassee")
- Powdered milk' ("The Man Behind the Curtain")
- Sausage ("Adrift") ("Left Behind")
- A-1 Sauce ("Left Behind"))
- Coffee, as seen in Claire's hut, ("Lighthouse")
- DHARMA-supplied food, as seen in Hurley's stash, or being eaten by Hurley from his stash:
- Potato chips ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Toasted oats cereal ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Assorted cookies ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Marshmallows ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Apple sauce ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Mandarin oranges ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Kidney beans ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Sweet peas ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Pears ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Crackers ("One of Them") ("Dave")
- Sawyer obtains a fish biscuit and kibble when he solves the experimental problem in the cage. He gives the fish biscuit to Kate. These items were apparently food for the polar bears kept by the DHARMA Initiative. ("A Tale of Two Cities")
Non-branded DHARMA food
In the 1970's at the Barracks, DHARMA had access to a variety of fresh foods including:
- Milk ("LaFleur")
- Carrots, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, mushrooms, tomatoes, and lettuce ("LaFleur")
- Pasta ("LaFleur")
- Hamburgers ("Namaste")
- Chicken salad sandwiches ("He's Our You")
- Bacon strips ("He's Our You")
- Waffles with ham and dipping sauces ("He's Our You")
The Others’ food
- Juliet offers a grilled cheese sandwich to Jack. ("A Tale of Two Cities")
- She later gives him a cheeseburger. ("The Cost of Living")
- Juliet burns the muffins she was baking prior to an Others' book club meeting. ("A Tale of Two Cities")
- Ben has breakfast with a captive Kate. ("A Tale of Two Cities")
- Coffee given to Kate by Tom (Mr. Friendly).
- Ben has fresh eggs in his fridge at the Barracks, as well as chicken; the Others probably have domesticated hens.
- At the Barracks, Locke cooks a rabbit for Ben. The origin of the rabbit is unknown. ("One of Us")
- In negotiations with the Flight 815 survivors and the Others, Tom Friendly refers to the food that grows on the Island as "...their (the Others) refrigerator" as part of a complex ruse that the survivors are only allowed to live because the Others are letting them. ("The Hunting Party") (Economics)
Miscellaneous foods
- David, Jack, and Claire are seen eating "Super Bran" Cereal for breakfast. ("What They Died For")
- Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack
- Hurley and Sayid pick up food from Rainbow Drive-In. Hurley's shirt becomes stained by ketchup from this meal after he and Sayid are attacked. ("Because You Left")
- Hurley throws a Hot Pocket at Ben. ("The Lie")
- Juice:
- Jack adds alcohol to his nearly-empty cup of juice just before Oceanic Flight 815 crashes. ("Pilot, Part 1")
- Kate drinks the same kind of juice just before Oceanic Flight 815 crashes. ("Pilot, Part 2")
- Kate drugs Kevin's lemonade. ("I Do")
- Juliet drinks drugged orange juice before being transported to the Island. ("One of Us")
- Jack drinks vodka and orange juice as he witnesses Hurley's televised high speed chase. ("The Beginning of the End")
- After Ben summons the Monster to the Barracks, a glass of orange juice is seen on a table as the house shakes and vibrates. ("The Shape of Things to Come")
- Jack offers Kate orange juice the morning before they board Ajira Airways Flight 316. ("316")
- DHARMA Initiative crewmembers serve sedative-laced orange juice to the Galaga's passengers as it prepares to leave the Island. ("The Incident, Part 1")
- Desmond and Charlie discuss haggis in The Man Behind the Curtain.
- Right before she dies, Juliet tells Sawyer they should get coffee. ("LA X, Part 1")
- Alt Locke prefers Earl Grey tea. ("The Substitute")
- Alt Keamy makes good eggs. ("Sundown")
Plot elements
- Kate tells her husband Kevin that she "doesn't do 'taco night'" before she leaves him. ("I Do")
- Dave constantly tries to make Hurley eat, including on "taco night", and mentioning leftover lasagna at the institution. ("Dave")
- Sawyer, Kate, Jack, and Hurley play poker with the stakes initially being fruit. ("Lockdown")
- Sawyer's cage as prisoner of the Others is a device designed to give a food and water reward for certain sequences of behaviors.
- Cattle outside the Flame, as well as beef stored inside, were featured in "Enter 77".
- Ben insolently asks Jack and Locke "You guys got any milk?" ("The Whole Truth")
- The Oceanic Six's story of subsisting on fish and coconuts is related as unbelievable in the Season 4 DVD extra "The Oceanic Six: A Conspiracy of Lies."
- Miles orders a fish taco from La Vida Tacos, then sarcastically says that Bram owes him another one after having been kidnapped in a van. ("Some Like It Hoth")
- Locke fixes a captive Ben a breakfast consisting of a melon and fried eggs. ("Eggtown")