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| Ky. bill to end contract to feed inmates advances |
| By businessweek.com |
| Published: 01/28/2010 |
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FRANKFORT, Ky. A Kentucky lawmaker who pinned much of the blame for a fiery prison uprising on frustration over prison food won committee approval Wednesday for his proposal to cancel contracts with private companies to provide meals at state-operated prisons. State Rep. Brent Yonts claimed that displeasure over the quality and amounts of food was the "root cause" of last year's riot at the medium-security Northpoint Training Center. "Systematic failure of management over time to deal with the food situation resulted in the riot, which was foreseeable and predictable," Yonts told the House Judiciary Committee. Yonts' bill, which cleared the Judiciary Committee on a 9-4 vote, would end the practice of private vendors providing meals to state inmates. It would effectively cancel the state's $11.8 million-a-year contract with Aramark Correctional Services to provide meals at state-operated prisons. Prison foodservice duties would be returned to the state. Officials said the contract saves the state an estimated $5.4 million yearly. Last August, prisoners started fires in trash cans that eventually spread, seriously damaging several buildings at the prison in central Kentucky. Justice Secretary J. Michael Brown acknowledged in testimony Wednesday that food is a common source of frustration among prisoners, but said the "flashpoint" causing the riot was anger over tighter restrictions to recreation areas and the prison yard. "No one is starving at these institutions," he said. But Brown conceded that satisfying appetites among prisoners is difficult. Inmates can supplement their meals by purchasing food at prison canteens. "None of them are hungry in the same aspect that you would consider hunger in Third World countries, or indeed what's going on in Haiti right now," he said. A state report on the riot said that staff members and inmates interviewed mentioned food as one reason for the uprising. The report said inmates felt their complaints were shunned. Lawmakers were given the report a week after Yonts claimed that corrections officials had withheld information and threatened to press for a subpoena to gather details. Talk of restoring prison food duties to the state comes at a time lawmakers are grappling with a big projected shortfall over the next two-year budget cycle. "It will come at a cost, a very high cost," Brown said. Brown said Aramark has fulfilled the state's expectations by "being able to provide enough nutritional food for our inmates at the price we asked them to do it." Aramark provides meals for $2.63 daily per inmate. The company can do so through bulk purchases of food and beverages that yield huge savings, officials said. Some lawmakers questioned how the company can provide enough food to inmates on $2.63 per day, even with the company's buying power. Yonts, D-Greenville, was critical of the Northpoint management, saying it failed to appreciate the links between food quality and inmate behavior. Yonts said there were warning signs about inmate dissatisfaction with food. In October 2007, about 300 Northpoint inmates protested food and canteen prices at a "sit down." On the day of the riot, some inmates dumped food on the floor during the morning and noon meals. He has recounted claims of incidents in which prison food was allegedly tainted by hair balls, rocks, cardboard, bread ties and worms. In comments to lawmakers last week, state Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson acknowledged there might be an occasional problem with prison meals, but called that "the nature of any food service." Read More. |
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