Feeding a prisoner for under four bucks a day!
As a
teenager in the 1950s, I was a grocery bagger in my father’s supermarket. Of
all the people who came for their weekly food supplies, I remember one woman who
paid over $20 consistently for her grocery order. She was obviously very poor,
but was the parent of a large flock of kids. I would carry her bags to the car,
while her husband sat in the vehicle reading the newspaper. Usually 4-5 bags,
filled to the brim. Not many people spent that kind of money on groceries.
Today, in
2017, I did the grocery shopping for Marcia and me. I paid $104 and some odd
cents! Two octogenarians do not consume a lot of food, and I don’t purchase
filet mignon and caviar.
I’m fully
aware of the fact that those entities that purchase large amounts of food can
save plenty. I did some checking on school meals. The latest statistics I could
find showed the average cost of lunch for an elementary school student was
$2.34. That’s a deal!
I bring up
all of this stuff because my mind is still reeling over a story that Detroit
Free Press writer Paul Egan broke recently regarding meals in the Michigan
prison system. Once again maggots were found. Besides that, dirt was found in
some of the food.
Meals are
provided in Michigan prisons by Trinity Services Group, a national agency based
in Florida. Rather than use state employees, Michigan chooses to outsource for chow.
I’ll save
the comments on maggots and dirt, problems with Trinity employees, and the
numerous penalties already paid by that company. I want to focus on cost.
I asked Egan
to break down the contract so we could figure out how much money is spent on a
meal for a prisoner. His reply: The cost for a single meal is $1.29! In
other words, the State of Michigan spends $3.87 per day to feed the
nearly 40,000 persons supervised by the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Granted,
because I know I can’t take the money with me when I leave this earth, I now
enjoy the luxury of buying my sandwich ham from the deli instead of in a bargain
package. And I now feel that it’s OK to purchase higher priced bread from the
bakery, rather than the stuff off the shelf.
But $1.29
per meal? $3.87 per day?
The next
time you’re in the store, see what you can buy for under four bucks.
Quoting
Mahatma Ghandi: “A nation's
greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”
Wonder how
Pure Michigan stacks up?
Comments
There are SO many health issues within the prison. High blood pressure, diabetes, cavities and tooth decay, rashes, headaches, and many other issues. I also think some of these issues correlate with the lead in the water. Some facilites, (St. Louis and Ionia facilities), have rusty water. The lead levels need to be checked! Lead poisoning is dangerous for adults. Signs and symptoms in might include:
High blood pressure
Joint and muscle pain
Difficulties with memory or concentration
Headache
Abdominal pain
Mood disorders
Reduced sperm count and abnormal sperm
Miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth in pregnant women
Facilities could help greatly if they allowed gardens to use the fresh fruit and vegetables in the chowhall. Instead the facilities donate the food to pantrys. Frustrating.