Inmates cook together, eat together – and sometimes even forage together. It puts Britain’s rat-infested facilities to shame, writes Lucy Vincent, chief executive of Food Behind Bars
‘In the UK, prisons like HMP Brixton are still the exception.’ Prisoners work in the kitchen at the Clink restaurant inside Brixton prison, south London.‘In the UK, prisons like HMP Brixton are still the exception.’ Prisoners work in the kitchen at the Clink restaurant inside Brixton prison, south London.spent three weeks visiting prisons across Scandinavia to find out how they feed their prisoners. You may ask why any of us should be concerned with what people in prison eat.
A smaller prison population and more public money puts Nordic prisons at an obvious advantage. In England and Wales, the daily budget for prison food is just £2.70 per prisoner. The charity I founded teaches prisoners in England and Wales to cook and grow food, and trains catering teams to produce healthy meals. But prisons like HMP Brixton are still the exception.
In April, an inquest into his death while serving time at HMP Norwich heard how he had “repeatedly claimed that prison food was making hisPrison catering teams need to be inspired, upskilled and empowered to make good quality food. Prison grounds need to be utilised more to grow food. New prisons need to be designed featuring self-catering facilities, and existing establishments should be given the resources to introduce them.
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