Healthy Prison Food

by Matt Kelley · 2009-10-21 04:28:00 UTC
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The Indiana Department of Corrections announced this week that it will reduce sodium and cholesterol in the food it serves to prisoners -- aiming to improve the health of its prison population. The state is following the lead of several others that have focused on nutrition in prison diets in recent years.

It's a worthy goal -- prisoners have little choice in what they eat, and most of them will be released eventually. By providing healthy food, prison systems are helping to ensure that released prisoners will be healthy and able to live their lives once they're released.

In the video after the jump, Slate visited the 2007 Correctional Food Conference and learned some interesting background on the food our prisoners eat. One vendor said it tends to be healthier and better than the food served in schools. Everyone works to make sure their packaging can't be used to make weapons. And, of course, cost is king - prison meat can run between 15 and 30 cents a serving.

I've known people who ate a kosher diet in prison because they found the food to be healthier, and one guy who actually managed to live as a vegan in prison for more than a decade. Prisoners in the federal system and in many states have lodged complaints for years over a manufactured food called Nutraloaf -- which is often given to prisoners in solitary confinement or other being punished for one reason or another. More than a few lawsuits have been filed over Nutraloaf, most unsuccessful.

Below is the Slate video on correctional food vendors:

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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