It a nasty comparison when people say a bad meal t astes "like prison food". This is true in most US incarceration centers where most are basically owned by large corporations. However that's changing in one famous prison - Riker's Island. Inmates are getting a chance to eat relatively decent food.
Regular contributor and chef Priya Krishna wrote this interesting piece in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section. Riker's Island has always had a bad reputation. It's essentially a jail - not a prison - that holds local criminals.There has been all kinds of abuse there in recent years, from sexual to physical. If it can be called lucky, there is a small bright spot. Thanks to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a fervent vegetarian, the jail's menu is having an upgrade. Now inmates get two plant based meals a week and it will be upped to four a week in the near future.The loyal cooks there are excited about this overhaul.Much of their time is defrosting frozen food like pizza pockets and burritos - two meals they know detainees don't like.Janelle Anderson a Riker's cook for ten years claims that most of the food comeback uneaten. There is more waste than consumption.New dishes will include a baked macaroni and cheese with the addition of butternut squash and a cheese and vegan sanocho, a beloved Puerto Rican stew. The last is being made by Hot Bread Kitchens , a non profit managing Rikers' kitchen.
Any jail time can be rough.However the RIkers cooks are devoted to their charges as they are to this new style of cooking.One,Luis Reina, who has been with the jail for twenty-nine years adds a bit of soy sauce occasionally to the meals to liven them up. (Mayor Mike Bloomberg mandated that there should be no salt in the dishes in back in 2012. He was striving for a healthier diet for all those associated with the city government).Mr. Reina also has detainees working for him. He doesn't delve into their pasts or the reason they're there. He just accept them for who they are ,After all these cooks provide the inmates with a rare shred of humanity - a meal. His co worker ,Tamara, Craddock agrees. This is their only connection to staying sane.It also isn't just humanizing she states but stabilizing. Shortages could be the fodder for prison riots.She cheers them up and even improvises a barbecue sauce bu blending ketchup with jelly for a makeshift barbecue sauce. Some like Kay Fraser, a pastry cook is tougher with them,Her attitude is gruff to them, ironic given her former position was making sweets for little girls at The American Girl Cafe.
Riker's Island has never really had a good reputation. It is hell for those who stay there. Yet eating decent and tastier food is one way to alleviate the dismal situation.
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