Statement of CSPI Campaign Manager Jessi Silverman

Everyone deserves access to healthy and appetizing food. Last week, Prince George’s County Council passed a resolution to bring this ideal closer to reality for people incarcerated in the county jail. The resolution requires the formation of a task force that will recommend food and nutrition standards for the jail meal program to support incarcerated individuals’ health, their religious and cultural identities, and ethical sourcing of food through the Good Food Purchasing Program. The Council directed the Department of Corrections to follow the standards within one year.

Championed by Councilmember Krystal Oriadha, this innovative policy follows more than two years of advocacy by the Food in Jails Should Heal, Not Harm Coalition, led by PG Changemakers, Life After Release, and the Prince George’s County Food Equity Council, and supported by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The campaign was prompted by community advocates’ and key stakeholders’ concerns that the county jail was failing to feed people in custody nutritious and safe meals, echoing complaints from prisons and jails across the country.

By passing this resolution, Prince George’s County took an important step to improve the health and wellbeing of its incarcerated population and returning citizens, while also supporting a more sustainable and equitable food system. This is the second local government in the nation to adopt such a measure this year after the DC Council passed legislation to establish nutrition standards for its jail facilities in March.  We look forward to many more state and local governments following this path and will be collaborating with our community partners and county officials to support full implementation of this resolution in Prince George’s County.

#      #      #

 

Topics