Brunch Behind Bars

What's more fitting for a Sunday than a post about brunch?

There has been a trend in recent months for state corrections departments to cut back on the number of meals they serve to prisoners in a given week, by replacing breakfast and lunch with brunch on weekends. On its face, this sounds absurd. It seems like a sure violation of prisoner rights and a terrible move by the system to cut costs while letting prisoners go hungry. But many prisons already skimp on food, and brunches are the least of the problem.

Ohio recently started serving a single brunch meal on all weekends and holidays, and the meal contains the same number of calories as the previous breakfast and lunch. State officials claim they made the switch because prisoners were choosing to skip weekend breakfasts anyway -- less than one-third normally ate the early meal on weekends. I'm not able to verify this, but Ohio's DOC claims that the switch will mean that more prisoners eat more food on weekends.

In November, Indiana also started experimenting with brunch on Fridays and weekends in one facility, planning to expand the project if it worked. Indiana officials said eliminating a meal allowed for more classroom and recreation time. Some critics saw that claim as a thin veneer on a dangerous cost-cutting move.

"We should treat our inmate population like human beings," State Sen. Mike Delph told the Indianapolis Star. "Denying food or cutting back on meals is beneath the dignity of the state of Indiana and is not in sync with our Hoosier values. It is my hope that the corrections officials will come before us and reassure us that they are treating the prisoners in a humane way."

After the jump, check out Ohio's prison brunch menu.

Prisons and jails serve notoriously terrible food, and I've heard from many people who have served behind bars that they relied on items purchased from the commissary -- either with job earnings or money sent from outside -- to satisfy their hunger. Especially in a place where so many people work out for so many hours, nutritional food, and plenty of it, is important. Most prisons don't live up to this standard.

But as I said above, adding nutrition and taste to prison meals should be higher on activists' lists than protecting weekend breakfasts. Here are Ohio's typical current and former menus:

Weekend breakfast (suspended August 1):

• Orange Juice
• Bran Flakes
• White Bread
• Peanut Butter
• Jelly
• Milk
• Coffee
• Sweetener

Weekend Lunch (Suspended August 1)

• Texas hash
• Peas
• Lettuce Salad
• French Dressing
• Peach Slices
• White Bread
• Beverage

Weekend Brunch (Started August 1)

• Orange Juice
• Corn Flakes
• Turkey Ham
• English Muffin
• Cheese Sauces
• Baked Potato
• Broccoli
• Brownie
• Fresh Fruit
• Milk
• Coffee
• Sweetner

I'm not sure if I trust these menus as accurate, and whether Ohio is giving us accurate information when they say that only a third of prisoners ate breakfast on weekends, but if these claims are true, I can't find much to argue with about the switch to brunch.

Photo by Banalities