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Food matters in prisons
Food does matter if we want to create a more secure, and rehabilitative environment in prisons.

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The secret ingredient?

The charity Food Matters has today (17 January 2024) published a new briefing that examines the current state of food systems in UK prisons and makes key recommendations for improving prisoner welfare and security through food. Underpinning the briefing is the belief that food should be part of the “solution to criminal behaviour”, forming an integral part of a rehabilitative environment. Alongside Food Matters’ work in prisons, further examples of good practice across the UK are highlighted, such as in The Clink Charity, that provides training in catering, hospitality and horticulture for people within prisons and ongoing support upon release. 

Yet whilst good practice exists across prisons, it currently does so only within pockets of the prison estate.  Food served within prisons is constrained by a tight budget and can be served at inconsistent timings – in one prison, prisoners were receiving their evening meals at 2:30pm, leaving a substantial gap until their next meal. The briefing highlights how poor food practices can negatively impact on many issues including security.

Food Matters

Food Matters is a national charity which believes that healthy, sustainable, fair food should be available to everyone. It has a range of initiatives mainly targeted at disadvantaged people with a focus on empowering individuals to make food choices which support their mental and physical health, and systems reform to ensure those food choices are possible.

In prisons, Food Matters works directly with people serving sentences, as well as with staff working in catering, food procurement, education and health. This includes delivering healthy eating materials through wellbeing newsletters, in-cell learning and workshops, cooking courses, practical toolkits, peer mentoring schemes and providing staff training sessions and consultancy to catering and food procurement services.

The briefing is based on a policy and literature review and roundtable workshop with experts from the voluntary sector, academia, and individuals with lived prison experience.

Listening to people with lived experience

The main themes raised by people with lived experience of prison and prison food included:

  • Women talked about food portion sizes which are too large and too small, as well as too high in fat and carbs. Dissatisfaction with the food offered has related to the desire to lose weight, the triggering of eating disorders and meals not meeting specific health needs such as the menopause, gut disorders, allergies and intolerances. “I’m out in 4 months and I’m really struggling. I’ve put on 3 stone in 1 year and it’s affecting my mental and physical health”
  • Men, particularly younger men, is often that portion sizes are too small, and that the meals are low in protein, since the differing age-related nutritional requirements are not currently provided for. These views also partially reflect the goal of some to attain a muscular big build while in prison (possibly as a protective strategy). This means that men going to the gym with the intention of building muscle may have a higher energy and protein requirement than the reference recommended amounts for men. Likewise, men in prison point out that those who undertake manual work (gardening, kitchen, cleaning etc.) are likely to have higher energy needs than those working in sedentary roles or not working.

“Beauty standards and ideals are not the same in prison as on the outside. Where outside observers might see a problem, prisoners won’t. Young adults aim for what they call a “big” physique, essentially muscular with a lot of fat on top. This is very different from pretty much all fitness goals on the outside with maybe the only exception being those who train strictly for strength, the type of people you see in “strong men” competitions.”

Conclusions and Recommendations

The briefing generates a wealth of ideas about how food in prisons can become a focal point rather than simply a function of prison regimes. It highlights the significant potential for the positive change that food could offer in terms of nutrition, food quality, and overall well-being of people in prison. Improvements in food standards, sustainability, nutritional education and activities related to understanding, preparing and sharing food are essential for creating healthier, more meaningful prison environments.

Key recommendations include:

  • An HMPPS cross-cutting strategy, like those for drugs and family ties, would provide an opportunity for food, nutrition, and wellbeing to be integrated more widely into existing operational and strategic policies and to develop prison food systems so that food becomes a focal point rather than solely a function.
  • Future procurement contracts for catering and canteen could provide greater flexibility around procuring local and seasonal produce.
  • Plans for more effective use of current prison spaces, and future prison buildings should be built with food production and preparation in mind, including food sustainability projects, self-catering options and communal dining being offered as standard in newly built prisons and large-scale expansions or refurbishments.
  • The provision of education and skills should include access to opportunities for people in prison to learn cooking, gardening, and other life skills, as well as work-focused skills, as part of the core curriculum and think creatively about how food related activities can provide purposeful activity.

Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the images in this post. You can see Andy’s work here

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One Response

  1. Something definitely needs to be done, my son is currently on remand in wandsworth prison. There is no way he is eating enough for a grown man. Some foods are still raw and some meals are missing. One bloke got 2 portions of rice for his meal! It’s unacceptable for 2024!

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