Michigan prison grocery budget---are you kidding?

Bold headline in the Sunday newspaper: Feeding residents on less than $10 a day? ‘That’s appallingly low.” 

The feature story was written by NJ Advance and MLive reporters. The focus was on food in our nation’s nursing homes. A study showed that a quarter of these facilities spent under $10 a day to feed their residents. Some were as low as $4-6 per day! “Appallingly low,” exclaimed David C. Grambowski, Harvard Professor of Health Care Policy 

If you think that’s low, you ain’t heard nothin’! Let’s compare the expense of prison meals with that of nursing home meals. In our country most states spend less than $3 per person per day on prison food. Some spend as little as $1.02 per person per day! Right here in Pure Michigan, I’m ashamed to report that the daily cost to feed a prisoner in a state prison is estimated to be around $1.98. Now THAT’S appallingly low! 

It is not uncommon for the office of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS to receive complaints that include substandard ingredients, small portions, food contamination (including maggots, rodents, and mold), and even instances of garbage being served as food. Some inmates have also reported being sickened and quarantined due to tainted food. 

Prison food is often criticized for being unhealthy, unpalatable, and sometimes even contaminated, leading to health issues and foodborne illnesses. Incarcerated individuals often have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and the food served can be high in salt, sugar, and refined carbohydrates. This can contribute to increased rates of diabetes and heart disease among this population. 

As an aside, many innovative residents of our prisons find alternatives. They have access to vending machines, and some of these men and women are skilled in cuisine preparation. The result: prison cookbooks! Inmates frequently describe cooking as a therapeutic escape from the daily grind of prison life. The prison's commissary, vending machines, and family care packages are a boon. Every kind of Ramen noodles is in demand. Our office has considered the publication of one or more of these cookbooks, not only to show the resourcefulness of our inmates, but also to help us experience the kind of food they are preparing and eating. 

Back to the bad food. 

Outrage by those families who send a parent or a grandparent to a long-term care facility serving unacceptable meals is certainly justified. Many are spending $100,000 a year and more! 

As residents of the State of Michigan, our anger at the way we feed our prisoners is also justified. You and I shop for groceries every week. We’re well aware of the price of groceries. Can you imagine trying to prepare 3 meals a day for under $2.00? 

I keep reminding our readers: Some 90% of Michigan prisoners will be released someday. As a Norway prison official puts it, “If we treat them like dogs in prison, guess how they’re going to behave when they get out?” 

Incarcerated men and women are not pets…they are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters and brothers, all created in the image of God. They deserve humane treatment. Just like the elderly folks in nursing homes, they deserve decent food.