The bad food served in California prisons is a problem for human rights and public health
Lunch was the usual brown bag: two slimy pieces of bologna between stale white bread, some chips and dry cookies. That, after a breakfast of egg substance poured from a bucket that gave off a pungent aroma, followed by a dinner of colorless chunks swimming in a bed of undefined runniness that announced its presence long before being served.
Prison fare not only violates state law requiring inmates be provided sufficient, healthful food, but even California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Kathleen Allison has said she wouldn’t eat it. So why should our offenders?
Why are standard-issue prison meals still of such degrading quality despite budget requests for healthier menus?
Why care about what California’s incarcerated eat for $3.18 a day? Because the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic in congregate facilities made one thing painfully clear: Prisons are porous, not impervious outliers. Nowhere was this clearer than with the outbreak at San Quentin State Prison last summer, which became a larger public health issue and the target of multiple lawsuits.
Studies show that the incarcerated are already sicker than the general population, typically entering the system from marginalized, less healthy communities.
In prison, poor health is often exacerbated by inadequate medical care. Inmates then leave with alarmingly high rates of heart and lung disease, diabetes and other chronic health conditions that depend on state dollars for care.
Better food means better health, and California prisons are not alone in their failure to provide nutritious meals. The landmark 2020 report “Eating Behind Bars” illuminates the human and societal costs of poor prison food nationally.
The study by the nonprofit Impact Justice found that food scarcity contributes to violence, substance abuse and mental health problems that often lead to desperate behaviors. By contrast, when inmates receive decent meals prepared in sanitary kitchens and served in positive environments, violence is reduced, mental health improves and the capacity for rehabilitation increases.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office found that the $81,000-plus annual cost to incarcerate an inmate in California includes $2,119 for food, compared with $26,665 for medical. Despite projections that show annual spending per inmate may skyrocket to $112,000 in a $17 billion corrections budget, inmate nutrition still takes a backseat while policy doesn’t always get translated into procedure.
Taxpayers are footing the bill for poor health among the state’s incarcerated, when proactive nutrition policies could save money and lives.
For the 2021-22 budget, corrections officials requested an increase of 22 cents per inmate per day to update menu options consistent with federal guidelines, promising less sodium, fat and sugar. They acknowledge historically inadequate nutrition, yet their proposal fails to prioritize more fresh produce, which is key to better health.
The issue of better nutrition behind bars is gaining traction nationwide. In California, the nonprofit Insight Garden Program is a national leader operating in state institutions. UC Davis’ agriculture department partners with schools, hospitals and government agencies to provide locally sourced produce. Corrections departments in Oregon, Washington, Maine and Maryland also partner with farms and colleges.
Prison processes already in place could amplify nutrition, including stocking more fresh produce for commissaries through the state’s healthy canteen plan. For food sales inside, local vendors already approved for supplying family visits could be tapped rather than relying on big-box concerns like Costco. (These items are purchased through inmate trust accounts, not taxpayer dollars.) Nutrition education could be loaded into the new tablets being distributed to inmates beginning this year.
Safety and security arise from healthy people, not hungry people. We would do well to learn the lessons of COVID: We are all interconnected, interdependent in sickness and in health, whether we like it or not.