WEBVTT - How Bad Is Prison Food?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Rain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogelbom here. The American prison system is an overcrowded,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes draconian maze that houses more than two million people

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<v Speaker 1>in more than one thousand, seven hundred state prisons, one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and nine federal prisons, more than three thousand, one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred local jails, some one thousand, seven hundred juvenile facilities,

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<v Speaker 1>military prisons, immigration detention centers, psychiatric facilities, and on and

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<v Speaker 1>on and on. The many problems inherent in the setup

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<v Speaker 1>are deep and disturbing, often overlooked, but still a critical issue.

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<v Speaker 1>The food in most lock ups is horrible. What the

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<v Speaker 1>system provides to those millions now incarcerated in the American

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<v Speaker 1>prison system is to many nothing short of a public

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<v Speaker 1>health crisis. Some might consider it a crime in itself,

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<v Speaker 1>cruel and unusual. We spoke with Loretta Rafe, a policy

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<v Speaker 1>researcher for the advocacy group Prison Voice Washington. She said,

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<v Speaker 1>when we're talking about the quality of the food, we're

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<v Speaker 1>not concerned with how the food tastes so much. Prisoners

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<v Speaker 1>are not asking for tasty, luxury food. They just want

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<v Speaker 1>food that's nutritious, people think that prisoners are asking for

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<v Speaker 1>flam and yon. That's not it. They're just wanting food

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<v Speaker 1>that's not processed with a bunch of texturized vegetable protein

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<v Speaker 1>and unhealthy oils and white flour. They just want fresh

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<v Speaker 1>vegetables and fruit and a sufficient amount of protein. The

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<v Speaker 1>challenges in feeding a prison population that large and doing

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<v Speaker 1>it cheaply enough that the taxpayers who fit the bill

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<v Speaker 1>don't revolt can't be downplayed. It's expensive to feed that

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<v Speaker 1>many prisoners. Estimates range in the millions of dollars a

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<v Speaker 1>year per state. It's complicated too, as it is on

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<v Speaker 1>the outside, one type of meal does not fit all.

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<v Speaker 1>Some inmates require special diets on religious grounds at kosher

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<v Speaker 1>or halal, for example, or for health reasons like gluten

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<v Speaker 1>or dairy free. The rules on special requests vary from

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<v Speaker 1>state to state, and even from facility to facility. Many

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<v Speaker 1>prisons will accommodate requests when they can, but it's not

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<v Speaker 1>always easy or effective. For example, an inmate in New

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<v Speaker 1>York went to court in twenty eighteen to force state

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<v Speaker 1>prisons to recognize his right to meals that did not

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<v Speaker 1>set off a dairy allergy and that were suitable for

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<v Speaker 1>his diet as a Nazarite Jew. A federal judge sided

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<v Speaker 1>with the state, ruling that the prisoner's demands would place

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<v Speaker 1>an undue burden on the state. Later, an appeals court

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<v Speaker 1>overturned that decision. The New York case noted that the

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<v Speaker 1>Upstate correctional facility has a kosher kitchen and a Kosher

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<v Speaker 1>meal plan, though that wasn't suitable for Nazarites. But many

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<v Speaker 1>prisons throughout the nation do not have specialized kitchens because

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<v Speaker 1>more and more have their meals prepackaged and shipped in

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<v Speaker 1>from off site vendors in order to cut costs. A

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<v Speaker 1>twenty sixteen report by Prison Voice Washington described the situation

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<v Speaker 1>like this as Correctional Industries, Washington State's prison food vendor,

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<v Speaker 1>took over food services around the state. It gradually eliminated

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<v Speaker 1>all freshly prepared natural food without exception, every single main

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<v Speaker 1>course is now a reheated, highly processed Correctional Industries product

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<v Speaker 1>with high amounts of sodium. Apart from the occasional serving

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<v Speaker 1>of beans, lean natural proteins are never served at any meal.

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<v Speaker 1>Unprocessed meat is never served. For example, the word turkey

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<v Speaker 1>on the menu doesn't mean that inmates receive turkey meat,

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<v Speaker 1>but rather a processed formed product containing soy, protein, sugar

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<v Speaker 1>and some amount of turkey material, and even those simmered

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<v Speaker 1>beans a healthier choice were only offered five times per

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<v Speaker 1>every twenty eight days. Even if the food is prepared

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<v Speaker 1>in a way that meets religious or dietary requirements, that

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't mean it's nutritious or that the meal is balanced. Often,

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<v Speaker 1>if an inmate is, say, dairy intolerant, the dairy from

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<v Speaker 1>the meal is simply removed. Nothing replaces it. Aside from

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<v Speaker 1>special needs meals, an average meal at an average jail

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<v Speaker 1>or penitentiary is about what you'd expect, often skimpy, locking

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<v Speaker 1>in nutrition and entirely on appetizing, and of course cheap.

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<v Speaker 1>According to The Guardian, in some prisons, inmates are fed

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<v Speaker 1>on less than a dollar and twenty cents a day.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanksgiving meal at Maricopa County, Arizona Jail under former hardline

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<v Speaker 1>shriff Joe or Pyo cost fifty six cents. According to

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<v Speaker 1>the Marshall Price, which is a non profit journalism group

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<v Speaker 1>that works on criminal justice topics, the meal included a

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<v Speaker 1>cup of carrots, a cup of mashed potatoes, and the

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<v Speaker 1>main course five ounces, that's one hundred and forty one

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<v Speaker 1>grams of turkey soy casserole. Riffey said, just go compare

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<v Speaker 1>those labels to like an organic cat food label. Sometime

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<v Speaker 1>you'll see that there are a lot nicer cat food

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<v Speaker 1>products that a lot of prisoners would prefer to eat.

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<v Speaker 1>But they're prisoners, right, And the argument that because prisoners

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<v Speaker 1>have committed crimes that have warranted incarceration means they don't

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<v Speaker 1>deserve anything but the food basics ignores a basic truth.

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<v Speaker 1>Bad food leads to unhealthy eaters. Unhealthy eating leads to

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<v Speaker 1>health problems, and that leads to excessive health care costs.

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<v Speaker 1>A Department of Justice study in twenty eleven to twenty twelve,

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<v Speaker 1>the last year that the National Inmate Study was conducted,

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<v Speaker 1>reported that seventy four percent of inmates in state and

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<v Speaker 1>federal prisons and jails are overweight, obese, or morbidly obese.

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<v Speaker 1>Health conditions that are tied to obesity include heart disease, stroke, diabetes,

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<v Speaker 1>and answer. A Prison Policy Initiative analysis found that quote

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<v Speaker 1>correctional agencies spend almost six times more on healthcare than

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<v Speaker 1>on food, and who pays for the incarcerated who must

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<v Speaker 1>be treated for those types of diseases the taxpayers. So

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<v Speaker 1>in the end, cutting cost corners by slapping down meals

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<v Speaker 1>lacking any nutritional value ends up costing everyone. The National

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<v Speaker 1>Commission on Correctional health Care, in a report to Congress

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<v Speaker 1>titled the Health Status of Soon to be Released Inmates,

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<v Speaker 1>points out the wisdom and paying more attention to what

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<v Speaker 1>prisons are serving than what they're spending on food. The

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<v Speaker 1>report said prisons and jails offer a unique opportunity to

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<v Speaker 1>establish better disease control in the community by providing improved

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<v Speaker 1>health care and disease prevention to inmates before they're released.

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<v Speaker 1>That starts, advocates say, by putting better food on the tray.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by John Donovan and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Klang. Brainstuff is a production of iHeartRadio's House Stuff Works.

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