There's really no good-enough FUNDING excuse for the poor quality of Amtrak food.
I personally, on multiple occasions, have seen two volunteers (sometimes one!) produce delicious, nutritious meals for 50-100 or more at camps, outdoors, supplied with nothing more than a random assortment of donated or scavenged food plus a few staples, using primitive propane stoves or campfires and nothing but coolers for refrigeration.
Of course you don't get steak dinners on a zero budget. But I'd trade any number of meals I've eaten, prepared as noted above, for almost anything I've eaten out of an Amtrak kitchen.
Not to put words in DA's mouth, but the chief "cultural" problem I see is with whoever's in charge of running Amtrak's food service. They could do a LOT better with the same money or possibly even less. Compare, for example, the turkey shank that used to be served on some trains, with the sad beef stewish option currently being served on the CONO. I doubt that the ingredients for the former cost more than those for the latter.
And don't get me started on the sorry, soggy state of the vegetables. :wacko:
Amtrak could do so much better, even without spending more money. Heck, I'm sure that if they bought more INGREDIENTS and fewer packaged heat-and-serve concoctions, they could spend LESS on better-quality food--perhaps enough less to be able to afford to pay properly trained staff to prepare and cook the stuff.
OK, end of rant. I love traveling on Amtrak, but am approaching the point where I dread the dining car.