Prison Food — Ask the Inmate
Institutional food inside correctional facilities is designed to meet minimum nutritional requirements at the lowest possible cost. For most inmates the quality, variety, and quantity fall well short of what they were accustomed to on the outside. Understanding how to supplement institutional meals through commissary, how to request dietary accommodations for medical or religious reasons, and how to make the best of the food environment inside are practical survival skills. This section covers what inmates can expect from the institutional food program, what commissary food options are typically available and which ones are worth buying, how tuna and mackerel packages became the informal currency of correctional facilities, how to request a special diet, and what families can send from outside to supplement their loved one's nutrition. The guidance here is honest and practical coming from people who ate institutional food for years and figured out how to make it work. See also our sections on Commissary and Inmate Care Packages
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Actually, it's not terrible. It reminds me of school food. It has all the nutritional value but it lacks taste. The inmates are the cooks, and unless they have been watching Bobby Flay, the food remains bland. Inmates with money on their books can supplement their food intake with "better" food options from the commissary.
Read morevery basic and mostly tasteless food that adds up to about 2000 calories per day
Read moreNot great. The meal plans are prepared by a registered dietician with foods that meet the daily minimum requirements for calories, carbohydrates, proteins and nutrients. But, they use limited spices and condiments for taste, so the meals end up being somewhat bland.
Read moreIt's not the most tasty or filling but they feed you three meals. Breakfast is like a combination of 2-3 of these: oatmeal, corn bread, apple, orange, bread slices, grits, jelly; lunch is a sandwich with some bologna-type meat, bag of chips, or hot dogs, chicken patty, tuna, sardines; dinner could be a pice of chicken, spaghetti, chow mein, meatloaf, potatoes or corn, and bread The posted nutritional value is 2000 calories per day. The problem is most guys come in from
Read moreYes absolutely. The prisons and jails have licensed nutricians on staff that set the daily menu and are responsible for the make-up of the food-stuffs and calories that are provided to the detainees
Read moreLousy, but it offers all the essential nutrients and vitamins that are required for the daily minimum. It's prison, hard to expect much more. Inmates can supplement their food intake by buying food stuff at the commissary. Inmates that have money on their books can buy tuna, chicken, salmon, beef, mackerel and summer sausage (like salami) to make their own meals.
Read moreIt is very unlikely that the facility will accommodate a request for that but he should ask the kitchen staff first to see if they even receive lemons - if they do he can make a deal with one of the inmates in the kitchen to get them for him. He of course will pay them in tuna packages for the service, which is the currency in prison.
Read moreThank you very much, everyone needs to know they are loved
Read moreThe food is as you'd imagine, it's pretty basic. There are inmates that come out super skinny but others can gain significant weight becasue they serve a lot of starches - they're very cost effective buying in bulk (rice, wheat, corn). There is a minimum calorie standard that they use to create the meal plans. The quality of the food is related to the budget they work with. Federal has the biggest budget and the best food. The misnomer is
Read moreFood varies based upon the type of institution or facility. The federal prisons have the best food on the national menu - the menu is the same everywhere. The food is similar to what you might find in a high school cafeteria. There are special meals for dietary and religious reasons. State prisons are similar to federal but less variety and taste. The county jails would be ranked at the lower end of the "tasty inmate food" chain as their
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