Blog by Helen Sandwell, January 2024
In 2023 Food Matters organised some roundtable workshops to talk about prison food. These events were attended by: voluntary sector and academics whose work involves food in prison, people with lived experience of prisons, and representatives from HM Inspector of Prisons, the Independent Monitoring Board and HMPPS. What came out of those workshops and subsequent conversations is a far-reaching report Food Matters in Prison.
For people serving sentences, food in prison is an emotive subject. Does it leave you still feeling hungry, or does it pile on the pounds? Will it trigger an eating disorder or other trauma-related behaviours? When you pick it up from the servery, has it gone cold, is it all dried up, does it look and smell edible, is it contaminated, or is there even any left? All these considerations can leave people in prison feeling pretty negative about food. At its worst, food can even threaten security.
Food Matters has gathered many views on prison food from people serving custodial sentences. Opinions such as the following demonstrate how crucial it is to get food right:
“You’ve got in your mind that the dinner that you’ve got coming will be tasteless, small, not very well cooked and then, just to add insult to injury you get there, and they can’t even be bothered to put it on to your plate in a respectable manner. So now it looks like absolute slop.”
“If there’s ever any sort of trouble in this prison, a riot or any sort of disruption or anything, it’s going to be over the food – the portions they’re serving up and the type of food.”
Image by Andy Aitchinson
It shouldn’t be like this. Food could and should be a power for good, in prisons as well as outside.
Food Matters in Prison documents where in prisons food already has an important role – not just the food that’s made in the kitchens and the food bought from the canteen (the prison shop), but elsewhere within prison systems.
Many prisoners want to cook for themselves, either through illicit ‘kettle cooking’ in the cell or if they are lucky enough, they can use cooking facilities provided on their wing. They find cooking has many positive aspects: a means of expressing who they are, an opportunity for social interaction and a place to teach and learn life skills. In the prisons’ central kitchens, especially those which supply restaurants and bakeries, food provides a means of learning workplace skills which can mean employment and an end to prison revolving doors. In prison farms and gardens, food production is not only a means of skills-learning, but also for many, the outdoor physical and social aspects of horticulture provide a valuable tool in managing mental health. Eating a healthy diet, can also help keep prisoners both physically and mentally healthy, better still if it’s appealing to eat. There can be no doubt that innovative ways of supporting mental health need to be a priority in prisons, where rates of mental illness are far higher than in the general population and poor mental health is a major contributing factor to substance misuse and related crime.
Food Matters in Prisons looks at the state of prison food systems now, and where they might be improved to benefit people in prison. We examine government policies relating to prison food including procurement, nutrition and sustainability. We look at what research exists to make a case for improved food being better for prisoners as well as the public purse. We also highlight examples of good practice, not only in the UK but worldwide. And we make recommendations relating to what opportunities exist for HMPPS, the Inspectorate, Monitoring Board and voluntary sector to work together to improve all aspects of prison food.
People convicted of crimes go to jail as their punishment and food should not be part of that punishment. On the contrary, food should be part of the solution to crime, forming an integral part of a rehabilitative environment.
You can read and download Food Matters in Prisons here.
You can read and download the Executive Summary here.
Blog by Helen Sandwell, January 2024
In 2023 Food Matters organised some roundtable workshops to talk about prison food. These events were attended by: voluntary sector and academics whose work involves food in prison, people with lived experience of prisons, and representatives from HM Inspector of Prisons, the Independent Monitoring Board and HMPPS. What came out of those workshops and subsequent conversations is a far-reaching report Food Matters in Prison.
For people serving sentences, food in prison is an emotive subject. Does it leave you still feeling hungry, or does it pile on the pounds? Will it trigger an eating disorder or other trauma-related behaviours? When you pick it up from the servery, has it gone cold, is it all dried up, does it look and smell edible, is it contaminated, or is there even any left? All these considerations can leave people in prison feeling pretty negative about food. At its worst, food can even threaten security.
Food Matters has gathered many views on prison food from people serving custodial sentences. Opinions such as the following demonstrate how crucial it is to get food right:
“You’ve got in your mind that the dinner that you’ve got coming will be tasteless, small, not very well cooked and then, just to add insult to injury you get there, and they can’t even be bothered to put it on to your plate in a respectable manner. So now it looks like absolute slop.”
“If there’s ever any sort of trouble in this prison, a riot or any sort of disruption or anything, it’s going to be over the food – the portions they’re serving up and the type of food.”
Image by Andy Aitchinson
It shouldn’t be like this. Food could and should be a power for good, in prisons as well as outside.
Food Matters in Prison documents where in prisons food already has an important role – not just the food that’s made in the kitchens and the food bought from the canteen (the prison shop), but elsewhere within prison systems.
Many prisoners want to cook for themselves, either through illicit ‘kettle cooking’ in the cell or if they are lucky enough, they can use cooking facilities provided on their wing. They find cooking has many positive aspects: a means of expressing who they are, an opportunity for social interaction and a place to teach and learn life skills. In the prisons’ central kitchens, especially those which supply restaurants and bakeries, food provides a means of learning workplace skills which can mean employment and an end to prison revolving doors. In prison farms and gardens, food production is not only a means of skills-learning, but also for many, the outdoor physical and social aspects of horticulture provide a valuable tool in managing mental health. Eating a healthy diet, can also help keep prisoners both physically and mentally healthy, better still if it’s appealing to eat. There can be no doubt that innovative ways of supporting mental health need to be a priority in prisons, where rates of mental illness are far higher than in the general population and poor mental health is a major contributing factor to substance misuse and related crime.
Food Matters in Prisons looks at the state of prison food systems now, and where they might be improved to benefit people in prison. We examine government policies relating to prison food including procurement, nutrition and sustainability. We look at what research exists to make a case for improved food being better for prisoners as well as the public purse. We also highlight examples of good practice, not only in the UK but worldwide. And we make recommendations relating to what opportunities exist for HMPPS, the Inspectorate, Monitoring Board and voluntary sector to work together to improve all aspects of prison food.
People convicted of crimes go to jail as their punishment and food should not be part of that punishment. On the contrary, food should be part of the solution to crime, forming an integral part of a rehabilitative environment.
You can read and download Food Matters in Prisons here.
You can read and download the Executive Summary here.
