Inmates irate over substandard federal prison grub
Correctional Service’s ‘cook-chill’ system can only be described in one word: ‘Yuck!’
OTTAWA — A program aimed at cutting the cost of feeding federal prisoners has achieved only “dubious” savings while sparking racial tensions and contributing to a deadly riot, the prison ombudsman believes.
Documents obtained through access to information laws reveal problems with the “cook-chill” program, which since November 2014 has had large prisons prepare food and freeze it before shipping it to smaller institutions, similar to airline food.
“Playing with food can have detrimental effects on the inmate population,” Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger said in an interview. “It can lead to tension.”
An April 2015 letter from his predecessor, Howard Sapers, states that “a large number of inmates are not receiving a complete meal” because of a buffet-style service that frequently runs out of food.
When Mission inmates complained that self-serve portions often run out, Correctional Service Canada responded that “we do not have the extra rations prepared or available.”
“This issue is beyond my control,” wrote one prison official, saying they’d asked colleagues “to suggest to the men to be more considerate of their fellow inmates when taking rations.”
As reported two years ago, inmates got sick after eating from malfunctioning heated food carts. Inmates have since phoned the ombudsman to report “eggs have ice on them,” and diabetics claim they’ve struggled to get timely access to food.
That led the ombudsman’s investigators to visit a handful of institutions to observe meals and photograph them. Images of chunky yellow goo prompted Zinger to respond with a single-word email: “Yuck!”
Another investigator emailed his photos under the subject line: “mmmhhh … delicious …"
Zinger says he realizes Correctional Service Canada (CSC) isn’t a restaurant. “We’re not looking at filet mignon,” he said. But he’s concerned inmates aren’t getting a baseline of adequate food. “The pictures speak for themselves.”
Alongside the cook-chill system, CSC rolled out a national menu to standardize prison meals across the country. Each inmate is given 2,600 calories, enough for a low-activity man aged 31 to 50 under Canada’s Food Guide.
But Zinger said younger, active men require more calories, and his office estimates 68 per cent of offenders are obese and eight per cent are diabetic.
Zinger said canteen-purchased sausages and potatoes are now being bartered among hungry offenders. “Food has become, in certain institutions, even a commodity.
“And it’s now being monitored as contraband, because extra food can be provided and traded for other things.”