Feeding the Felons

• In Event: Adminstration of Corrections and Correctional Programming

Abstract

This paper is a consideration of the place that food has in modern prison life. It includes an analysis of the budgetary challenges faced by prison administrators and the need to meet dietary requirements such as Recommended Daily Allowances, together with the challenges faced by any dietary restrictions of a prisoner’s religion or health issues. Consideration is given to the place of meals as a communal activity, in comparison to an offender eating alone. The role of a changed diet for punitive purposes is also examined. The opportunity for cooking in a therapeutic role as an official activity is compared to the opportunities that prisoners take to cook when doing so is a violation of the prison rules. Mention is also made of the “Nutraloaf,” institutional corrections’ unique and dubious way of meeting the obligation to feed prisoners.

Author

• David Orrick, Norwich University