The regulations are strict. The metal can be jammed into locks or coin slots of pay telephones. And the meals must provide 2,800 to 3,000 calories a day, or the diners can sue because their rights to a healthy diet aren't being met. Overcrowding, budget and staffing considerations led the sheriff to choose the unusual preplating meal solution when designing the satellite jail's foodservice facilities. Most large correctional facilities use the kitchen in the main jail to cook for all inmates, trucking the meals to outlying jails.
Preplated meals save time and space in the facility.
Prep for about 180 meals takes only 45 minutes, enabling one full-time staff and two trustees to serve 540 meals a day. And since the meals are prepackaged, there is no contamination and no possibility of contraband, adds Tobby Wheelis, administrative sergeant for the Oakland facility. Like jails across the country, Oakland County must provide diets that meet the strict nutritional standards required by the state. A local distributor provides fresh vegetables, fruit, beverages and dessert. For low-volume feeding, they can be.