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Erika Camplin - Prison Food in America, Inbunden

Inbunden, Engelska, 2016

Prison Food in America

Av Erika Camplin

Del i serien Bloomsbury Studies in Food and Gastronomy

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Beskrivning
America seems presently fascinated by prison culture and the inner workings of what happens behind clinked doors. With TV shows creating binge-watchers of us all, and celebrities piquing public interest as they end up behind bars, Americans seem to enjoy a good gawk at prison life. Each year, more than 1.3 million visitors still trek out to Alcatraz Island, one of the most famous prisons in the world. And why shouldn’t they be curious about prison? We as a nation currently incarcerate more people per capita than any other country, and our prisons are notoriously rough, violent, and overcrowded. At the same time, we love our food, take pictures of it, post it socially, and discuss our foodie favorites. Rarely do we consider the food experiences of those for whom sustenance is more difficult to obtain, particularly those incarcerated, where choice and access is severely limited. Prison food is often everything to prisoners. It is the only marker of time throughout the day. Food becomes commerce in the microeconomies behind prison walls. It is often the only source of pleasure in a monotonous routine. It creates sites of community when prisoners ban together to create recipes, but also becomes a site of discord when issues surrounding fairness and equity arise in the chow hall. Prison Food in America offers a high-level snapshot of the fare offered behind bars, its general guidelines and regulations, fascinating stories about prisoners and food, and the remarkable and varied ways food plays a role in the fabric of prison culture.
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Erika Camplin is a food studies scholar and has published works at Huffington Post, Food52.com, and other outlets.

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Camplin, a food studies scholar, zeroes in on a key factor of life for the incarcerated: prison fare. In the federal, state, and local systems, the United States regularly houses approximately 2 million inmates, which results in the need to provide 13 billion meals annually, according to Camplin. She investigates what prisoners eat, who is providing and preparing the food, and the quality of the meals. She provides a short history of prison food dating back to medieval England, where prisoners provided their own food or starved; prison reform in the 18th century began to acknowledge the need to feed prisoners decently. She also covers the business of food service in prison, exploring links between cost and corrupt business practices of food distributors. Getting quality food for prisoners is a continuous uphill struggle as shown by scandals like the many grievances filed against Aramark, a private food contractor, who was said to be pocketing millions of dollars for serving substandard food. The search for good food has even resulted in prisoners converting to Judaism to be eligible for kosher meals. Five pages of menus are included, as are recipes for infamous food such as 'Nutraloaf,' which is served to misbehaving inmates as a form of punishment. The food preferences of famous prisoners such as Bernie Madoff and Lil Wayne provide amusing moments. This succinct and academic overview of a quirky subject is very readable and comes with lengthy notes.

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