Food Scarcity In the Texas Prison System

Access to nutritious food should be a right for everyone. Unfortunately, for the incarcerated, this is not always the case. 

It's been an arduous day in the prison laundry, where I have spent the last four hours loading and unloading the three industrial-size dryers under my care. The one-ounce scoop of peanut butter served with two pieces of white bread and a one-ounce serving of canned fruit I received at breakfast failed to provide me with sufficient calories for the energy required to complete my task. 

But this is prison, and that is all I am fed. The new menu for the current week has been posted on the bulletin board, garnering no excitement on our part; it is the same items we ate last week, last month, last year, with few deviations. Aside from the lack of variety, what we are fed can only be described as slop. In fact, all the food waste we produce is repurposed to feed the prison pigs, who are then slaughtered to feed us. 

Looking at this week's menu, I count five meals containing pork. After work, I head to the chow hall for lunch, which today happens to be a single rubbery corn dog with one-ounce servings of pinto beans, canned green beans, and what passes for carrots. It has been twelve long years since I have had anything fresh. If it comes in a can, we eat it. 

Most days I pick and choose what I will eat from the food line; only some of it looks and tastes edible. Being a former food line worker, I can attest that the smaller portions are new and the many complaints about portion size are not unreasonable. I can remember during the late nineties, we were fed more filling portions until whoever decides our menu concluded we were consuming too many calories. This is what led to our present entrees of one hot dog, a single bean burrito, and one-ounce serving sizes. 

Some of the population are able to purchase food items from the commissary, which offers potato chips, soda, cookies, candy, processed cheese and meat products, and condiments. We are encouraged to purchase the healthier items such as fish, chicken, beef, and turkey, but they contain so many preservatives to be stored without refrigeration; how can they be a healthier alternative? 

Hypertension and high cholesterol run rampant amongst our population, and the medical department's solution is to place individuals on a diet tray. Upon speaking to those who eat this specialized menu, I discovered that it's not so healthy after all. One person thought the diet to be too high in sodium, contained too much starch and pork, and was therefore unhealthy for those with high blood pressure. Not wanting to sound biased, I asked other peers what their opinions were of the menu offerings. One response characterized the menu as full of too many fillers and not meeting our nutritional and vital requirements. Another person thought anything pork was "detestable, inedible, and undesirable." 

Favorite dishes included baked chicken, grilled cheese sandwiches, and hamburgers. One thing I find farcical is the creative names attached to the menu items, which almost sound gourmet! Swedish Meatballs, Polish Pork Roll, Beef Fideo, Lasagna, Chicken Parmesan, Gumbo, Dirty Rice, Stroganoff, and Salisbury Steak. I assure you this is misleading and untrue. 

During my two weeks of research, we received the following intake amounts: Diet menu served 28 pork dishes, 44 starches, and 32 fried food items. Regular diet items totaled 38 bread and tortilla servings, 12 servings of potatoes, and 14 rice and/or pasta dishes. 

In all fairness, I must report that the food service department does sometimes surprise us with delicious, filling meals. During the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons, we look forward to a meal that is carefully and delectably made. How unfortunate that this only occurs twice a year. 

Texas has no problem issuing lengthy prison sentences, yet the state government routinely denies that money is available in the budget for prison improvements such as food or air conditioning. Prison reform remains an afterthought in the state budget, even though millions of dollars are generated by the lottery and corporate taxes. 

I am not alone in having no understanding of why we cannot, or will not, be fed equal to the energy we expend laboring for the prison. In my opinion, the prison system could employ someone in a position to procure donations from corporations, restaurants, and grocers to improve the content and quality of our menu. One thing most of us can agree on is the hankering for fresh fruit and vegetables; our bodies crave what our diets lack. 

I argue that the deficient manner in which we are fed clearly constitutes a violation of our Eighth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and states that prison officials "must ensure inmates receive adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and must protect prisoners from violence at the hands of other prisoners." Is it too much to ask to make available nutritious food that also staves off our hunger? 

Even the prison staff eat better than we do; they receive adequate portions of well-prepared food. For the incarcerated, hunger is our constant companion. There was a time in Solitary Confinement when I was forced to fill my stomach with water over and over again to avoid hunger. Others opted to consume toothpaste to kill the hunger pangs. The portions we were receiving were better suited for a toddler. We were often served undercooked pork and chicken, which we devoured out of desperation, but later paid the price of upset stomachs and bowel discomfort.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice Offender Orientation Handbook states that: "Offenders are to be provided three (3) wholesome meals daily. Some units may provide two (2) on weekends if the nutrition is equal to three (3) meals." However, this does not take into account the long hours between dinner at 4 pm one day and lunch at 10 am the following day. 

Food insecurity is usually associated with homelessness or low-income households. Many often forget about us. By no means should this country be failing in its duty to properly feed its incarcerated citizenry. That makes us no better than the atrocities we condemn in third-world countries. The voting public should consider casting votes for candidates who will recognize the needs and rights of the incarcerated population. Only at the government level will any changes occur, which will enhance our quality of life and defeat food insecurity. 

In closing, I'd like the public to know our food insecurity is based on our being deprived of sufficient nutrition to increase the prison's profit margin through commissary and care package purchases. This is evidenced by the article "Not Fit For Human Consumption," which states: "… failures in food service have forced incarcerated people to depend on commissary and care packages sent by loved ones for food and hygiene items as well as clothing essentials – all of which are insufficiently provided from correctional administrators." 

Providing us with basic nutrition has come down to prison profit. We are no longer humans, just hungry dollar signs.