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| Sheriff to put inmates on 2,500-calorie diet |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 11/03/2003 |
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Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio will put the more than 8,700 inmates inside county jails on a diet next week. But his plan to cut a prisoner's daily caloric intake from 3,000 to 2,500 calories is already drawing criticism, the a local newspaper reported. "We starve as it is with two meals a day," said Diana Sisco, 29, of Mesa, who is an inmate at the Estrella Jail in Phoenix. "We just started having hamburgers and chicken, but mainly, we get slop." She and other inmates complain that meals are already unhealthy, with too much starch and too much time between brunch in the morning and dinner around 5 p.m. Besides, they still have access to junk food at the commissary. Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley said he's concerned about the health of inmates on a reduced-calorie diet, especially if they are recovering from alcohol and drug abuse. "It's counterintuitive to cut back on what is merely a two-meal-a-day starvation diet. How is that going to help you?" he said. But Arpaio disagreed and said the calorie reduction is aimed at helping sedentary inmates from gaining weight while saving the county about $300,000 a year in food costs. Inmates are fed twice a day, but numerous other items, such as coffee, mayonnaise, ketchup and salt have already been removed from the inmates' food service. Arpaio said the new diet complies with federal dietary guidelines, which allow 2,200 calories a day for sedentary adults. Meanwhile, an executive of an herbal tea company in Mesa has donated 540,000 servings of tea to the county. It will be served daily to inmates and save the county about $27,000 a year, Arpaio said. |
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