Insufficient and Bland Food
Prison employees making food for inmates in the prison kitchen. Courtesy of East Carolina Manuscript Collection
Back then and now prison food is best described as state officials serving the incarcerated insufficient amounts of bad tasting food on small trays. For example, Brent Koster has been incarcerated for forty-six years, entering the Michigan State correctional system in the 1970s. Koster has eaten the food and experienced it intimately while working in prison cafeterias. He says the food has gone from bad to worse—it is difficult to digest because it is so bland; disorienting since the beef and pork look the same, and so do the chicken and fish dishes; meals rarely include fresh produce; and prisoners do not receive enough healthy food to meet their nutritional needs.
