Prison food

Prison food is the term for meals served to prisoners while incarcerated in correctional institutions. While some prisons prepare their own food, many use staff from on-site catering companies. Some prisons support the dietary requirements of specific religions, as well as vegetarianism. Prisoners will typically receive a series of standard meals per day from the prison, but in many prisons they can supplement their diets by purchasing additional foods, including snacks and desserts, at the prison commissary with money earned from working in the prison or sent by family and friends.
Typical menus are designed to be low-sugar, low-salt, and to contain a moderate amount of calories. Dietary, religious, and ethical concerns are taken into consideration to a certain extent. Supreme Court cases in 1987, Turner v. Safley and O'Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, created a test that balanced the constitutional rights of prisoners to exercise their religion freely against the rights of the prisons to punish inmates and keep the prison in order. Whether or not a prison has breached an inmate's religious dietary rights is now judged from the cases of Turner and O'Lone. While this test is still in use, many other constitutional points come into play, and it is still a widely debated issue.
Most prison food in the United States is prepared with the blast-chill method, which allows a large number of meals to be prepared and then reheated at meal times. In the US, this technique was pioneered by the New Jersey correctional system, in January 1982.
Inmates may also purchase food at the prison commissary, such as chocolate bars, beef jerky, honey, peanut butter, bread, ramen noodles, coffee, and snack cakes.
Often, private civilian contractors are responsible for all aspects of food preparation, including training, adherence to recipes, food safety, theft prevention, and portion control.
Jewish prisoners may be issued kosher rations.
As of October 2, 2016, federal prisons offer their inmates a vegan meal option for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Although there is a certain amount of self-regulation, most oversight occurs as a result of inmate litigation. Complaints against prison food have been made on the grounds of breach of Constitutional Amendments. In particular, claims of inadequate food may breach the Eighth Amendment banning cruel and unusual punishment, and denial of specific food requirements on religious grounds breach the First Amendment. It was not until 1976, during the Estelle v. Gamble case, that courts began to use the Eighth Amendment for issues involving cruel and unusual punishment against inmates; however, the issues must involve 1.) "Whether the injury was objectively, sufficiently serious," and 2.) "Whether the prison official was deliberately indifferent to the inmate's needs." This can be interpreted by different courts in various ways. For example, one court may see depriving a disobedient inmate of food as "sufficiently serious," therefore going against the Eighth Amendment, while another court may see it as an appropriate measure of punishment, therefore in line with the Eighth Amendment.
State prisons often prefer to conduct their own inspections; however, they may opt for accreditation from a nonprofit organization such as the American Correctional Association. Approximately 80% of state departments of corrections are involved with such oversight organizations.
An example of a meal from a state prison is as follows:
There have been several documented examples of mass illness within prisons from the food served. There have been hunger strikes from prisoners protesting being served food that makes them ill after eating. Whistleblowers and reporters have documented mouse droppings and various violations of standards in prison kitchens. It is no longer allowed for family to bring food nor share with loved ones behind bars; rather, families can transfer money for a fee to allow inmates to purchase packaged foods such as prepared noodle packages and candy from the prison store. There is thus usually no way for inmates to ever have access to fresh food. Aramark, who has provided the meals to many prisons in the U.S. since 2004, has been sharply criticized for lowering standards and not providing sufficient quantities of edible food.
In U.S. federal prisons, breakfasts usually consist of a Danish pastry, hot or cold cereal, and milk. The other two meals of the day include foods such as chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, lasagna, burritos, tacos, and fish patties. Inmates only have access to milk in the mornings, and have access to water and a flavored drink for the other two meals.
Prisoners have been known to create prison "spreads", or privately prepared meals with items purchased from a prison commissary, obtained from government-mandated meals to prisoners, or obtained from a prison kitchen. Spreads can often become communal gatherings of prisoners, with the general expectation that each prisoner contributes one aspect of the meal. Prison spreads are largely a response to inadequate food quality, quantity and/or variety within the meals served by the prison itself.
A Prison Service officer — a chef—supervises the proper preparation of meals in each unit. He is also the one who supervises the inmates employed in the kitchen. Prisoners are involved at every stage of meal preparation, from peeling vegetables, preparing individual ingredients, cooking and dividing food portions. They are employed in the kitchen on a paid or unpaid basis, and their assignment to particular tasks depends primarily on their education and skills. All meals are carefully selected in terms of nutritional value. Depending on the type of prison, meals are delivered to the cell or, as is the case in semi-open and open prisons, inmates eat them in canteens.
The officer of the quartermaster's department is responsible for determining what is included in the menu and for diversifying the meals. He prepares individual diets with the participation of a health care worker. A convict staying in a prison or pretrial detention facility receives drinks and meals with appropriate nutritional value three times a day, including at least one hot meal. The energy value of meals included in the daily diet of prisoners is not less than 2,800 kcal for prisoners under 18 years of age and 2,600 kcal for other prisoners. The food rations allocated consider the type of work performed and the age of the convict, and, if possible, also religious and cultural requirements.
There are 7 types of meals available in the units:
Convicts have the opportunity to receive meals that take into account religious or cultural requirements, for example, a dietary standard without pork (so-called "Muslim diet") or vegetarian. Some inmates deliberately declare converting to Islam or Judaism to change their meal plan.
Sample daily meal plan for "P" option from a Kraków prison includes:
Another sample daily meal from Łódź prison looked as follows:
In jails in the late 1830s prisoners were issued a spoon, a 2 imperial pints (1.1 L) zinc dish for broth, and a 3-gill (3⁄4 imperial pint (430 ml)) zinc bowl for milk. During winter, when milk was in short supply, prisoners would occasionally be provided with treacle water.
Strict rules governed the quantity of food given to prisoners. For example, a female who was not in condition for work would receive around 1+1⁄2 imperial pints (850 ml) of broth and 6 ounces (170 g) of bread. A male prisoner who was in condition for work would get 2 imperial pints (1,100 ml) of broth and 12 ounces (340 g) of bread.
Breakfast, served at 7:30 am, would comprise 5 ounces (140 g) ounces of oatmeal porridge with 3⁄4 imperial pint (430 ml) of milk. Lunch, served at 12:00 pm, consisted of soup and bread. Each pint of soup was required to contain 1 ounce (28 g) of ox head or marrow bones, 1+1⁄2 ounces (43 g) ounces of barley, 1⁄2 ounce (14 g) of green peas, 1+1⁄2 ounces (43 g) ounces of leeks, and various other vegetables. Supper was served at 6:00 pm, and consisted of 5 ounces (140 g) ounces of oatmeal porridge and 1⁄2 imperial pint (280 ml) of milk.
Up until about 2004 (in most prisons), prison meals were prepared by prisoners under the supervision of prison employees. The move towards privatization of meal preparation and rationing resulted in numerous changes from historical practices. In some prisons e.g. HMP Norwich, the prison meals are still prepared by prisoners.
The average daily allowance per prisoner is £1.87, and can be as low as £1.20. In some cases, particularly in juvenile institutions, allowances can be as high as £3.45 per day.
The total catering expenditure by the HM Prison Service in 2004–2005 was £94 million, £43 million of which was spent on food, and £32 million was spent on catering staff. Some prisoners work in the kitchens, supervised by catering staff, and this is a popular prison job as it involves working at weekends and therefore attracts higher pay, as well as providing a chance to obtain some skills in cooking.
Meals are generally not made from seasonal produce, but instead use convenience foods such as canned goods, frozen vegetables, hamburgers and pies.
Examples of menus in a London prison are as follows:
Lunch:
Dinner:
Regular meals served to prisoners are basic. For lunch prisoners are typically served dishes such as cold pieces of boiled meat, eggs, or skinny chicken bones, white rice, and vegetable soup, and dinner consists of foods such as ful medames (a traditional Egyptian dish of fava beans, vegetable oil, and cumin) with stale bread made from mixed flours. Each prison has a canteen where prisoners can buy additional food such as meat, vegetables, and fruits to supplement their diet. Many prisoners also have food brought to them by their families.
The standard prison meal in Ethiopia is injera with stew, most often made with beans and usually with no meat. Prisoners are typically fed three times a day with the same meal.
Prisoners receive two basic meals a day, a breakfast of maize or sorghum porridge and a lunch or dinner of a maize porridge called Ugali and beans. Extra food is available for purchase at the prison canteen or can be brought by visitors.
Historically, prisoners in Bangladesh were served a breakfast of bread and molasses, a practice that had been in place since the British colonial era in the 18th century. The meal consisted of 116 grams of bread and 14.5 grams of molasses, remaining unchanged for over 200 years.
In 2019, the government introduced a new breakfast menu, replacing the colonial-era offering. The updated menu includes bread, vegetables, sweets, and khichdi (a spiced rice and lentil dish). The change is part of broader prison reforms aimed at improving nutrition and prisoner morale.
Prisoners in Saudi Arabia are served foods such as bread and sandwiches for breakfast, chicken, mutton, and fish for lunch, and rice and vegetables for dinner. Prisoners also receive rations such as salads, milk, and juice.
Kongbap, a dish consisting of white or brown rice cooked together with grains, peas, and beans, is a common staple in Korean prisons. Prisoners are also served dishes such as bread with tomato sauce, cheese, soup, salad, and soy milk at breakfast and bone marrow and vegetable soup, kimchi, and beansprouts at lunch. Other foods such as fruits and meats are available for purchase at prison commissaries.
Every prisoner is entitled to 17 kilograms of rice, 15 kilograms of vegetables, 0.7 kilograms of meat, 0.8 kilograms of fish, 0.5 kilograms of sugar, and 1 kilogram of salt per month.
In Punjab, the prison diet is structured with a weekly menu that includes:
In Sindh, the prison menu follows a structured plan:
Taiwanese prisons typically serve simple meals. Breakfast in some prisons may include soy milk and rice rolls. Lunch and dinner may include rice, vegetables, fish, and meat. One prison in Taichung serves up to 4 and 1/2 tons of rice to the inmates every day. This amounts to just 500g of rice per prisoner per day plus some vegetables or fish.
The New Zealand Department of Corrections is required by law to provide three meals per day, one of which must be hot, and meals cannot be more than 14 hours apart. As of February 2020, the average meal cost is $6.03 per prisoner per day.
An example daily prison menu includes the following: