New report from Food Matters puts the spotlight on prison food systems

The ‘Food Matters in Prisons’ report asks policy makers to improve prison food and make it a pillar of prison life. Food Matters asserts that food has a multifaceted position within prisons and, therefore, holds potential to be utilised as a force for change, from healthier eating to improving skills for life after prison.

The conclusions of the report promote a prison food system that embeds food within prison life. It highlights the benefit of kitchen gardening, cooking and self-catering for people in the prison system.

The report builds on 2023 roundtable discussions, which were attended by people from the voluntary sector, academics, people with lived experience of prison and representatives of HM Inspector of Prisons, the Independent Monitoring Board and HMPPS. It found multiple issues with food in prisons, revealing a prison food system with limited access to fresh, nutritious food and in some cases a failure to meet the calorie intake needs of prisoners.

Through prisoner surveys the report indicates that only 41% of men surveyed by the Inspectorate in 2021-2022 rated the food in prisons as good and only 39% said they got enough to eat each day. Furthermore, a national review of food provision observed that people in prison complain about there not being enough fruit and vegetables and too much fat, carbohydrate, salt and processed food. This has implications for mental and physical wellbeing that can prove cost inefficient for prisons. The report highlights a gap in nutritional guidelines available to prison catering staff.  

The report calls for improvements in public availability of data on prison food supply, sustainability standards and the performance of external catering contractors. Furthermore, it questions the sufficiency of the current quality assurance process through staff and prisoner testing conducted by His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). 

In addition, the report details security concerns around inadequate food provision, with prisoners commenting that quality of food or lack of food is often a trigger for outbreaks of violence or riots within the prison system. 

Food Matters has issued key recommendations for consideration by policy makers:

• A cross-cutting strategy to integrate food, nutrition and wellbeing into existing policies.
• Procurement of local and seasonal produce.
• Improvement of healthy eating knowledge within prison populations.
• Enactment of the proposed introduction of DEFRA data reporting on buying standards.
• Improvement of physical spaces in prisons to accommodate food production and preparation, sustainable projects and self-catering options.
• Increased education of food skills – gardening and cooking.
• Use prison communications, such as radio, to improve nutritional awareness.
• Increased research on prison food systems.
• Introduction of a peer supporter or Food Champions programme within prisons.
• Improvement of monitoring standards, quality and quantity of food in prisons.
• A cross committee inquiry on the food in prison by the Health and Social Care Committee, Justice Committee and Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs Committee. 

Victoria Williams director of Food Matters said:

‘We need to shift our perspective to viewing food within prisons not just as a function, but as a focal point for improvements to prison regimes and prisoners’ lives. This approach sees food not as the stuff of riots, but as the stuff of reform – and highlights a pathway towards a more rehabilitative, healthy, and secure environment within the custodial system.’ 

The full report is available here.