Prison Food

The goals and challenges of prison food service are similar to those of other institutional food-service operations. Food must be provided to a large, in-house group in a manner that is efficient, cost-effective, and sanitary. The majority of prisons in the United States are run by individual state Departments of Corrections, which means that prisons differ in their approaches to meeting these goals and challenges. Prison menus reflect financial constraints, nutrition and safety concerns, and philosophies of the rights of prisoners. Meals reflect the needs and preferences of the institution rather than those of the inmates. Taste, quality, and variety are not major considerations in correctional facilities.