A freedom of information request by a regional daily newspaper has revealed that prisoners are being treated to gourmet food on special occasions.
The Manchester Evening News submitted the FoI request to find out what was served at six Greater Manchester jails on Christmas Daty Easter Sunday, and the day of the Royal Wedding.
It found that among the dishes on the menu were Jamaican jerk chicken, lamb passanda, cod Provencal and salmon in Florentine sauce.
But the request submitted by reporter Deborah Linton also showed wide disparities in the prison food available, with inmates at one institution having to make do with jumbo sausage, corned beef, battered fish and cheese pasties.
The menus show that inmates inside Styal women’s prison in Cheshire were treated to cod provencal and scones at Easter and turkey breast or salmon in Florentine sauce at Christmas.
The women’s prison also marked the Royal Wedding with a lunch of haddock in ‘a la King’ sauce , as well as chicken breast served with oriental vegetables.
By contrast, Hindley Young Offenders Institution’s Easter menu included salad roll and cup-a-soup.
A spokesperson for one of the prisons, Strangeways, told the paper that the prison provides meals which reflect the “cultural and religious diversity of its population” without exceeding its daily budget of 66p per prisoner per meal.
Meanwhile, a separate Freedom of Information request by the Newcastle Evening Chronicle revealed last week that efforts to fight a giant blaze were hit by concerns over safety equipment.
The paper submitted an FoI request about the huge fire which broke out at a yard in Newcastle in May.
An article by Reporter Tom Mullen showed that internal fire service documents seen by the Chronicle reveal the fire caused damage to the neck straps on firefighters’ breathing masks that did not meet required standards.
The fault was raised in a report compiled by chiefs and an investigation was recommended.
The documents also reveal how the cost of the operation exceeded £50,000.
They showed that Tyne and Wear fire service chiefs revealed that breathing apparatus suffered heat damage in the initial firefighting actions and crews may have had problems because the masks were not being worn correctly.
Dave Brown, group manager for TWFRS, told the paper it was an incident ‘isolated’ and stressed no firefighters were placed in danger and said e neck strap issue was a finer detail in the debrief.
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Having worked inside a prison myself, I can reveal that although there will probably be a civilian catering manager, prison food is mostly prepared by prisoners. Therefore, I suspect that individual culinary abilities strongly predicate the range and quality of food on offer in any particular institution at any given time. And whatever the terminology, I seriously doubt any would be Masterchef standard.
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Cod provencal et al is hardly gourmet, more healthy eating…. Lobster, truffles, caviar, fine champagne might make me raise my eyebrows!
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So inmates at one institution had to make do with jumbo sausage, corned beef, battered fish and cheese pasties eh?
I’ve worked with many a junior reporter who would consider that to be gourmet heaven.
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So inmates at one institution had to make do with jumbo sausage, corned beef, battered fish and cheese pasties eh!
I’ve worked with a many a junior reporter to whom that was a staple diet. However, it does not make it right. It’s good to hear that our prisons are becoming a little more enlightened about nutrition.
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I don’t see factory farmed turkey and salmon as a ‘gourmet’ meal as suggested in the headline – even if it is in Florentine sauce.
A lot of these FoI requests in local newspapers are lazy journalism. They don’t really tell the reader anything new
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