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What’s On Your Inmates Plates?
11/06/08 - 06:30 AM
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Tuquyen Mach - bio

Bay County, Fla:

All you have to do is walk into your neighborhood grocery store to realize food prices have shot up in recent months.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects food prices to increase 5.5 percent in 2008 and 4.5 percent in 2009.

Faced with a tough economy and falling tax revenues, local and state governments are being forced to cut back.

Jails and prisons are feeling the pinch, and it’s no surprise that food is one area where budgets are tight.

Warden Rick Anglin of the Bay County Jail says meals there cost 93¢ per inmate, and the jail saves money by using inmates to prepare the food. 

Anglin says the cost per meal is the same now as it was under Corrections Corporation of America, which operated the jail for more than 20 years until the company handed over the reigns to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in early October.

Florida Statutes say county detention facilities must follow Florida Model Jail Standards, which are set by a committee from the Florida Sheriffs Association and Florida Association of Counties.

The standards regarding food state inmates must receive 3 meals a day. One of those must be a hot meal.

Menus must be based on the government’s recommended dietary allowances and approved by a nutritionist.

Hollie Smouse, food services manager at the Bay County Jail, says they serve three hot meals a day, with a population of between 900 and 1,000 inmates. Food preparation starts two days in advance, and the kitchen begins operating at 3:00 a.m. daily.

Smouse says the menu repeats every four weeks.

On the afternoon News 13 visited the jail, lunch had just ended and preparations for dinner had just started. Dinner that day was a brown bag meal, with the fixings for two sandwiches, a bag of chips, an apple, cookies, and calcium-fortified juice. Smouse says they only serve this meal once a month. Normally, the inmates would’ve been served Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and gravy that night.

Anglin says the jail’s food budget for FY2008-2009 is $900,000. He says Sheriff Frank McKeithen is interested in finding some ways to cut costs, for instance making lunch a cold meal.

For decades, prison food has had a bad reputation, so when News 13 started looking into what inmates eat in Panhandle jails, we asked Holmes County Sheriff Dennis Lee to show us around his facility, and eat dinner with me: the same dinner the inmates ate that night.

The sheriff and I, along with Captain Greg Yancey, the jail’s administrator, enjoyed the meal of turkey and dressing, lima beans, sweet potatoes, bread, and a piece of cake.

For breakfast, inmates can choose from oatmeal, scrambled eggs, grits, biscuits, or hotcakes. They can drink coffee, juice, or a carton of milk. The cost of that carton makes up a third of the total cost of the meal. 

The sack lunch includes one meat sandwich and one peanut butter sandwich.

There’s only one choice of beverage for dinner: water.

The average cost of a meal at the Holmes County Jail and Work Camp? 93¢.

The sheriff says they work hard to keep costs down, including using inmates to help with food prep.
“We’re a small county. We don’t have a lot of money, and we don’t have any white sand, so we have to do the best we can do save money,” says Lee.

Another way of cutting costs, having the inmates work in this garden on the front lawn of the jail.

“We grow a spring garden, a summer garden, and a fall garden. Right now, you’ve got collards, mustard, turnips, rutabagas that are growing out there, and there’s still some okra that’s making out there. We use that to help offset the cost of the meals,” he says.

The garden is a big hit with the inmates.

“They love fresh vegetables. Most of them were raised on them, grown in the garden, so they feel at home here at the Holmes County Jail,” laughs Lee.

Holmes County isn’t the only panhandle facility that grows its own food.

The Walton County Jail partners with the Walton Correctional Institute to grow vegetables. Walton’s jail administrator Danny Glidewell says they’ve been averaging just 60¢ a meal with that program.

Bay County Jail officials say they are also looking into starting a garden there.


FLORIDA MODEL JAIL STANDARDS
Effective Date: 01/01/08

CHAPTER 6 - FOOD
(6.01) All aspects of food service operations, including contract services, shall meet the minimum requirements of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services standards (64E-11., Florida Administrative Code).
(6.02) No employee or inmate shall work in any area of food service operations if he/she is known to have or suspected of having a communicable disease, open wounds or sores, or respiratory infections. Clean outer garments will be worn, and all inmates working in food service or delivery will maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness.
(6.03) Food preparation will be by or supervised by an employee trained in culinary services and holding a Professional Food Manager certification as required by Chapter 64E-11.012, Florida Administrative Code.
(6.04) Inmates shall be given three substantial, wholesome, and nutritious meals daily. Not more than 14 hours may elapse between the evening meal and the morning meal. Hot meals shall be served at least once daily. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are recommended in menu planning. (This does not apply to extreme emergency situations; i.e., riots, fires, natural disasters, etc. or inmates assigned to outside work groups.)
(6.05) Menus - The Recommended Dietary Allowances of the National Research Council - National Academy of Sciences shall serve as the standard for the preparation of menus and the evaluation of menus served. Menus shall be planned for not less than 28 days in advance and certified by a nutritionist.
(a) If a nutritionist is not employed by the detention facility, nutritional advice will be obtained from a qualified employee or person from outside sources such as county health services, local schools, hospitals or a professional dietary service.
(b) Modified diets shall be prepared for inmates when ordered by a physician or designee.
(c) Records of meals served shall be kept for one (1) year.
(d) Food may not be withheld, nor the standard menu varied, as a disciplinary sanction or as a reward for good behavior or work for an individual inmate.
(e) Special management meals meeting the minimum daily nutrition requirement as approved by a physician or other qualified medical staff member may be substituted for regular meals in the event an inmate throws or otherwise misuses food, beverage, food utensils, food trays, etc. This includes utilizing trays, cups, or utensils to throw human waste or other substances.
(f) Inmates shall receive additional caloric intake in excess of regular meals if approved by a nutritionist or similarly qualified person, as being reasonably necessary because of work or labor being performed by the inmate. Religious diets may be provided to inmates if required by their faith.
(6.06) The Officer-in-Charge or designee shall inspect the food service area on a regular basis at least once a week, and shall make corrections on deficiencies found. The inspection of the food service area shall be recorded and maintained for not less than one (1) year.
(6.07) All food supplies not in preparation are to be stored in a locked, clean, well-ventilated room, which is free from vermin. A locked storage area separate from food supplies shall be provided for soaps, detergents, waxes, cleaning compounds, insect and rodent spray, and other poisons.
(6.08) The delivery of food to inmates in their quarters, day room or dining room shall be under the supervision of an employee. The serving of food shall be consistent with common sanitary measures. Trays shall not be placed on the floor or slid under a cell door. If drinking cups are allowed in the cell, inmates shall be provided an opportunity to clean or exchange the cup at least once each day.
(6.09) All food service equipment will be of such material, design, workmanship or installation to permit full compliance with the provisions of these standards. The equipment shall be kept clean and in good repair at all times.
(6.10) Inmates should be served in a common dining area or adjacent day room, if available, unless their security, classification, and/or adjustment would preclude such dining.
(6.11) The Food Service Supervisor shall maintain a procedure to keep an accurate accounting of all culinary equipment, specifically, knives, sharps, etc.
(6.12) Items from food service such as mace, nutmeg, raisins, and other items, which may be used for manufacture of contraband beverages, will be the joint responsibility of the Food Service Supervisor and the Officer-in-Charge. They will be considered a control item, whose use will be governed by rule or regulation.

Source:: Florida Model Jail Standards

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User Comments

When govt officials deprive or conspire to deprive citizens of constitutinal rights they are subject to civil suit for damages under 42 U.S.C. 1983, 1985, etc. and federal felony civil rights charges under 18 U.S.C. 241, 242, etc.

The courts have ruled that prisoners, guilty or innocent, have constitutional, civil, and human rights while under the care of the govt.  Such rights include the right to be fed, to have adequate medical treatment, to have access to, and due process in, jail grievance processes and court proceedings, not to be battered and tortured, and other fundamental rights.

Intentional deprivation of these rights is, again, a felony under 18 U.S.C. 241, 242 etc.  No intelligent human being would deny a prisoner, male or female, guilty or innocent until proven guilty, these basic rights.  The courts agree.  The law and our Constitution guarantee it.

Rob, please reconsider what you are saying or believe.  Do you support abuse or turture of a human being?

Posted by  on  12/09  at  11:30 AM

Follow up, what I mean to say in the post below is “they’ve been accused of breaking the law” not when they’ve broken the law. We’re innocent until proven guitly and should not be treated as if we’re guilty until proven guilty. Anyone could land in jail through false accusations. That’s what a trial is to determine. But, even if someone is found guilty, to break the law in the way they are handled is hypcritical. There’s no gray area there. Either something is illegal or it’s not. To be OK with your law enforcement system of breaking the law in the way they handle incarcerated individuals makes ou in violation of the law just as they are. So, don’t think you’re any different. You’re just supporting people who have broken a “different” law. Which is better or worse? Neither, they’re both just as guilty. If you support not protecting the laws provided to protect those in jail, you too are guilty.

Posted by  on  12/08  at  02:41 PM

Robmirti, your assessment of the situation is exactly the cause of the types of problems I describe. I have not been tried or convicted. Anyone who is at peace with crimes being perpetrated against those incarcerated because they’ve broken the law is a hypocrit. The government in those case is no better than those they incarcerate. 3 years ago I was worth well over a million dollars with $250,000 in the bank. I lost my business and my house because of the economy and the failing real estate market. Financial problems led to the demise of my marriage of 20 years. My wife when the money left. I wrote a check that was never presented to my bank and reported not paid. I did not know any legal problem because I lost to home the mail would have gone to. So, a warrant was issued for my arrest. I was on Celexa for depression because of losing everything including my family. Anyone could find themselves that situation. If they do, have fun not under the protection of the law in Bay County.

Posted by  on  12/08  at  02:24 PM

For some reason, I cannot have sympathy for any inmate who has committed a crime and has been incarcerated.  Our taxpayer dollars have to go to many of these persons and, yet, someone like me who has to scrimp and save every penny I have to put food in my stomach, any drugs like the one mentioned in one of the blogs above, and pay my house bills.  Meanwhile, they are living on the taxes that I have to pay for such services as they are getting.  Oh, and as for persons serving crimes they did not commit, how did you find yourself in your predicament in the first place???
I guess it’s because of the company you choose to keep!  Me, I like my creature comforts, too, only I have friends who are not of a questionable nature!

Posted by  on  12/08  at  06:26 AM

TO:  jgaryfischer

The problems you describe have been systemic for years under CCA.  I am surprised that Sheriff McKeithen has not fixed this yet.  It appears your incarceration was under the Sheriff’s supervision, not CCA’s.  Am I correct?

I have discussed many problems with the new Warden, Rick Anglin, and his assistant Vivian Sammons ().  Send her an email to lodge your complaints, ask them to documents the complaints, and then request a copy of that documentation, and your email received by them, under the Public Records Law, Chapter 119 Florida Statutes.

I have been given solid assurances by Anglin and Ms. Sammons that public record and other issues will be addressed, as well as inmate rights to medical treatment, medical privacy, proper nourishment, legal materials and aid, etc.

I am hoping Sheriff McKeithen and Mr. Anglin address these matters immediately, document them, and bring the procedures and policies to model jail standards.

Posted by  on  12/06  at  02:26 PM

I was released from this facility on 12/01/08. I was there 6 days. The vast majority of the time with no pillow, toilet paper, toothpaste or soap. I’ve just finished reading the Florida Model Jail Standards and they’ve got a lot of violations of that code there. They mix the population in the jail with those who have been sentenced to time are comingled with people awaiting trial. They also aren’t providing adequate healthcare, mental healthcare, and don’t provide church services for the inmates on Sundays. I requested most of the things they weren’t providing that I needed but never received it. Someone overnighted me a money order to put money into my commissary account. The check was signed for and received by the jail but 2 days later when I was released I still had not received the money order. They are providing drinks with the meals. No coffee and a lot of the time the drink is water. I also was supposed to be receiving Celexa every day, but never received it.

Posted by  on  12/04  at  07:10 PM

Over the years CCA cut back on the nutritional intake of prisoners.  Hopefully this will be fixed by the Sheriff.  Recently, before they were terminated, CCA eliminated all fruit from diets except a frozen fruit subsitute that could not be identified as fruit or consumed without throwing up.  We understand that incarceration is a punishment, but it should not be torture.  A fortified diet is required by the jail standards.  CCA also eliminated providing coffee for breakfast and failed to make sure that inmates had something to dring with other meals.  They also eliminated providing salt and pepper to inmates to at least season what was otherwise bland food.  Lastly, let us not forget that a great amount of detainees have not been found guilty and sentenced but are treated as if they are.  These issues need to be addreessed as well as battery of one inmate on another, intimidation, and the gangs that exist in the Bay County Jail system, i.e. inmate Levergne Parrish.

Posted by  on  11/06  at  06:37 PM
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