Living in a prison is like having a nightmare for many, if not for all. As a correctional place to accommodate those who have committed crimes, you can expect that this place is not as comfortable as the normal and regular house. Most of the things there are the opposite of the ones from the outside, including the foods. What are the worst prison foods in the world?
Actually, just like the word “best”, the word “worst” is also subjective and it may be different from one to another. However, since a lot of people share the same opinion, we would take it as the winner.
What is Nutraloaf
In the United States, the worst prison food goes to nutraloaf. Nutraloaf is the name of the food that is usually served to the inmates who are currently living at the jails, prisons, or detention centers in the United States and formerly in Canada who have misbehaved, such as assaulting prison guards or other prisoners. This kind of food has some other names, including lockup loaf, food loaf, disciplinary loaf, prison loaf, meal loaf, confinement loaf, seg loaf, and special management meal. The texture of this food is similar to meatloaf. What makes it different from meatloaf is that it has a wider variety of ingredients. Basically, it is a blend of some different kinds of food mashed together and then baked into a loaf that has no flavor. As you can probably expect, nutraloaf is typically bland or not tasty. Some even call it unpleasant. However, prison wardens assure that it has enough nutrition and can make the prisoners healthy even though they don’t have to eat with utensils.
As stated above, the ingredients of nutraloaf may vary. It means the recipes can be different. The ingredients may include vegetables, fruit, meat, and bread or other grains. All of them are blended and then baked into a solid loaf. Sometimes, it is made of ground beef, vegetables, beans, and bread crumbs. Aside from that, there are also nutraloaf that include mechanically separated poultry and dairy blends.
Even though nutraloaf is everywhere in a number of prisons in the United States, its use is controversial. The U.S. Supreme Court mentioned it in 1978 in Hutto v. Finney said that conditions in the Arkansas penal system constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Grue or something that was created by mashing meat, potatoes, oleo or margarine, syrup, vegetables, eggs, and seasoning into a paste and baking the mixture in a pan was fed to the prisoners. Most audiences, as represented by Justice John Paul Stevens demanded to discontinue the grue diet, upholding an opinion from the 8th Circuit Court.
The use of food as a disciplinary measure is discouraged by the standards of the American Correctional Association. However, the courts found that denying inmates food as punishment is unconstitutional. As the loaf in general has a complete nutrition, it is sometimes considered fine as a dietary adjustment instead of a denial of proper meals.
In several states such as Maryland, Illinois, New York, Nebraska, Washington, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, lawsuits regarding nutraloaf have taken place. Almost 5 years ago, prisoners brought a case before the Vermont Supreme Court. They demanded for nutraloaf to be deleted from the menu since the Vermont state law does not allow food to be used as punishment. According to the Vermont Supreme Court, the nutraloaf and water diet constitutes punishment as it was made to be unappetixing and it compelled its deletion. Two years later, sheriff Joe Arpaio from Maricopa County, Arizona won a federal judgment in favor of the constitutionality of nutraloaf. In the end of 2015, the use of nutraloaf was discontinued by New York States throughout the prisons statewide. It was ruled by theDistrict Court for the Western District of Washington in Gordon v. Barnett that even though it was not cruel and unusual, this food is a punishment. Aside from that, the prisoners have the right to go through the hearing before getting subjected to it.
Talking about worst prison foods, actually, nutraloaf is not the only prison food that is considered the worst in the United States.
Other Foods
Apart from that, there are some other questionable meals and can make the ones who eat them vomit, such as:
1. Goulash
It is usually served for prisoners at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison.
2. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
These were the main dish at breakfast time for those who are placed in the Maricopa County Tent City in Phoenix.
3. Salt beef and Indian Mush
It is a meal for inmates at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. In the 1800s, it was usually served for dinner.
In China, prisoners are usually fed with rice, turnips and a little pork fat. According to American Stuart B Foster, it tastes horrible but is enough to sustain life. Not only bad menus, this country also applies a brutal and unrelenting system. Basically, if work production does not improve, their rations will be cut in half. Due to this system, there are a lot of prisoners who start to look skeletal.
In Thailand, murky soups are served. An Australian writer Harry Nicolaides who spent 6 months in a Bangkok prison after being accused of defaming the Thai monarchy said that even though he was hungry, he resisted the temptation to try the soup because he saw cats vomit after being fed with it. Actually, it is only for those who are not so lucky to have outside help. As for those who have family or friends who can serve them good meals, they can eat well.
These are some of the worst prison foods in the world. Even though many prisons feed their prisoners bad foods, it does not mean all prisons in the world are like that. In fact, there are also prisons who serve good food, such as prisons in New Zealand and in Norway.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
