The former fashion journalist teaching prisoners to cook
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PEELiNg potatoes in a prison kitchen, pans clattering around her, Lucy Vincent is chatting companionably to a double murderer about the Sunday roasts his mum cooked. the change from her old life as a fashion journalist to a campaigner striving to improve prison food is as much of a shock to Lucy as to anyone.
But when she discovered the dire quality of prison food and its impact on prisoners, from fuelling violence to increasing chances of reoffending on release, Lucy, then just 24, decided she had to act. Her campaign group, Food Behind Bars, was launched in 2016, becoming a registered charity in 2020.
Now, this young mum spends her time visiting prisons around the country, working with staff and inmates to promote healthy eating through classes and workshops. She helps chefs design menus and encourages prisoners to prepare for a healthier life on release.
you may be sceptical. But the positive outcomes from Lucy’s work have a farreaching effect in wider society, too. Reports by leading academic groups have found that tastier, nutritious food can reduce violent offences in prisons by 37 per cent and significantly reduce the risk of reoffending on release.
Denmark, which spends £8 per head a day on prisoners’ food, compared with £2.70 in the uK, has one of the lowest reoffending rates in Europe, at 29 per cent. compare that with Britain, where 48 per cent of prisoners reoffend within 12 months, costing the taxpayer £15 billion every year.
‘Working with prisoners is the last thing i imagined doing,’ says Lucy, 31. ‘But the issue got hold of me and i couldn’t walk away.’
Back in 2016, Lucy, who now lives in Essex with her partner, Jack, 32, a creative director, and their 17-month-old daughter, Patti, was a freelance journalist with a passion for fashion and food.
Soit was a government report about food in prisons that caught her eye. ‘Like most people, i was totally ignorant about conditions behind bars,’ she says. ‘the report said food was cold and seriously lacking in nutrition. Meals were carb-heavy and very repetitive. there was a lack of fruit and veg.
‘Most prisoners eat alone in their cells, sitting next to their toilet. the whole experience is dismal, so i decided to investigate further.’
As Lucy started interviewing staff and prisoners around the country, one woman’s story encapsulated the problem.
Jailed at 21 for a non-violent offence, Sophie had spent three years inside various prisons. She arrived fit and healthy. But the food was of such poor quality that she put on five stone. Her selfesteem, already at rock bottom, nose-dived further.
‘ Women prisoners tend to comfort eat and don’t exercise as much, whereas men hit the gym. Bad food affects women’s self- esteem terribly,’ explains Lucy. ‘ Not surprisingly, the incidence of self-harm is much higher among women prisoners.’
According to the Ministry of Justice, the rate of self-harm is ten times higher in women’s prisons, with 16,140 cases in the 12 months leading to December 2022. Although women make up only four per cent of the prison population, they account for 29 per cent of self-harm incidents.
‘i couldn’t understand why we weren’t serving healthy food and teaching them about nutrition to improve their lives,’ says Lucy. ‘the solution seemed so simple.’
After Lucy was invited on tV to discuss her findings, she was contacted by a stream of prison governors all eager to learn from her.
‘ they saw the link between violence and disruption and poor quality food, and were desperate for a solution,’ she explains.
‘Poor food affects mental health which is at crisis point in prisons. it also leads to bullying and to prisoners getting into debt. Prison shops sell convenience food such as crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks. Because they are starved of decent food, prisoners borrow cash from each other or steal.’
over one weekend in November 2016, Lucy’s brother set up a website and Food Behind Bars was launched. ‘We didn’t have any money or advertising,’ she adds. ‘ But, through social media, the charity took off. We now employ a staff of five, including a development chef to work with prison catering managers. We consult with the prisoners, train people in the kitchen and inspire them to make good food.’
Since 2020, Food Behind Bars has raised £350,000. the charity has now worked with 11 prisons and taught more than 150 prisoners how to cook.
Although all prisons have the same food budget of £2.70 a head and all use the same supplier, Lucy found there are stark contrasts between institutions.
‘When the catering manager believes that, despite having a small budget, food can still look and taste good, the difference is remarkable,’ she says. ‘For example, at HMP Brixton in London i’ve seen curry paste being made from scratch and bread baked.
‘As with all prisons, it’s the same ingredients, with prisoners working in the kitchen under a professional team. But there’s a positive environment — Brixton is a challenging prison, but eating is a high point of the day. if Brixton can do this, every prison can.
LUCY adds: ‘ We are working on a project with HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes. it’s a high security prison with one of the highest rates of violence and self-harm in the country. the team is great, but they are demoralised. the governor hopes we can help them cook fresh food they can take pride in and get the prisoners more involved.’
it’s just one of Lucy’s many initiatives around the country. Food Behind Bars also runs classes for prisoners in cooking, baking, food growing and even butchery.
‘We might have six to eight prisoners in a class,’ says Lucy. ‘Just getting them out of their cells into the kitchen and eating together afterwards has an impact.’
one prison catering manager, whose work with the charity over the past two years has led to the launch of an in-prison bakery, says: ‘ they’ve helped us make a real impact on the health, wellbeing and life chances of the men in the prison.’
Success stories are legion, like the female prisoner at HMP East Sutton Park who will shortly start a job at a top butcher’s in London’s trendy Borough Market on her release thanks to a butchery course Food Behind Bars ran at the prison.
Far from feeling frightened while working in prison kitchens, Lucy says she feels enormously privileged. ‘ cooking with a group of guys, talking about the food their mums used to cook or about what they cooked with their kids, you get that sense of hope and humanity,’ she says.
‘Statistics prove that improving their food and teaching prisoners how to eat healthily on release will help stop them reoffending.
‘And that has to be a good thing for all of us.’