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Cost-cutting measures mean the county jail has gone from a hot breakfast to a cold one, leaving some inmates perturbed.
By TAMARA LUSH
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 19, 2001
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Daniel Chipman prefers a hearty, hot breakfast of French toast, turkey sausage links, grits and fruit.
But he's less enthusiastic about his recent morning meals: two tablespoons of peanut butter, six crackers, a couple of pats of jelly and some cornflakes with milk.
Chipman, 45, doesn't have control over what he eats. He is an inmate at the Pasco County Jail awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges, and along with dozens of other inmates, he has complained to jail personnel about the recent switch from hot to cold breakfasts.
"Before, the food was excellent, bottom line," Chipman said. "It was very well-rounded and a lot. Now we might be lucky to get a hard-boiled egg, bread and a 1-ounce dish of fruit."
The breakfast switch is a cost-cutting measure, said jail officials, although they acknowledge that savings cannot be measured in dollars.
Serving cold breakfasts in paper bags eliminates the need to run hundreds of large, plastic serving trays through a dishwasher. In turn, that eliminates the need for using more inmates and staff members to serve food throughout the day.
Lt. Donald Jacobs of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said that when a new wing of the jail opens later year, the jail cafeteria will serve almost 200 more meals a day. The time and labor savings of serving a cold breakfast will be immeasurable, he said.
Jacobs, who is in charge of the jail cafeteria, said he received more than 40 complaints from inmates about the change in breakfasts at the beginning of July.
"Food is the one thing they have to look forward to," Jacobs said.
Under state law, county jails are allowed to serve inmates two cold meals a day. But Jacobs addressed a widespread inmate rumor that the jail would start serving a cold lunch.
"We're not going to a cold lunch," he said. "That's just a little extreme."
Inmates like Chipman claim the new breakfasts aren't nutritionally sound, but the menus have been approved by a public health nutritionist at the state Department of Health.
According to a June 19 letter from state nutritionist Lois Waltz, the 2,200-calorie-a-day diet meet the nutritional guidelines set by the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program.
Chipman disagrees: "I think the county dietitian ought to come in and stay about a month."
Clara Lawhead, the director of nutritional services for the Pasco County Health Department, said that nutritionally, there is no difference between hot and cold breakfasts. But, she said, prisoners' attachment to certain types of food is no surprise.
"Food takes on a higher role for a prisoner," she said. "Because of that, special attention is placed on meals to make sure prisoners are reasonably satisfied."
To help cut costs, the jail receives donated food. Also, the inmates pay a "subsistence fee" of $2 a day, and a portion of that goes toward food costs. In 2000, the Sheriff's Office -- the agency that runs the county jail -- served 821,337 meals at a cost of about $600,000.
Because the donated food includes items such as day-old bread and pastries, the inmates say they are sometimes served bread sporting mold spots. A recent look at one package of rolls showed a tiny spot of mold, and the package was promptly thrown away by a deputy. Jacobs said that once mold is found on the bread, it is tossed out.
There are a few measures of inmate satisfaction with meals. Inmates who have been in other jails often comment about the good quality of the food in Pasco, Jacobs said, and, "the inmates leave bigger than they came," he said.
Any change to the menu is likely to upset the inmates. Jacobs said inmates were upset recently because they were no longer being served ice water, and were instead given cups and told to get their drinking water from the tap in their cells. The cell water is county water, and the same as they had received previously, he said.
"It's the same water that a Pasco County citizen would get if they drank their tap water," he said.
Last year, inmates in one wing threw their trays through the bars in their cells when they were served water instead of juice or tea.
"They lose sight of the fact that they are incarcerated," Jacobs said. "Our food is far better than the average inmate eats on the street. They get a good meal."
Chipman acknowledges that many people won't be sympathetic to the epicurean tastes of prisoners. But, he said, inmates are people, too.
"Not everyone that comes to jail is a criminal. They've been in trouble, but they're not criminals."
This isn't the first time Sheriff Bob White has implemented a change that has rankled prisoners. Earlier this summer, White ordered all inmates on work assignments outside the jail to wear black-and-white striped uniforms. The changes have left some with the impression that the new administration, now 8 months old, is less friendly to the needs of inmates.
"This Bob White is something else, I'll tell you what," Chipman said.
-- Tamara Lush is the police reporter in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245, or toll free at (800) 333-7505, ext. 6245. Her e-mail address is lush@sptimes.com.
Here is a sample day's menu -- including a hot breakfast -- of what Pasco County jail inmates were served before July 9:
Two slices French toast
Two ounces of sliced lean ham
One cup of dry cereal
One piece of seasonal fruit
Two ounces of cereal
One teaspoon of margarine
One chicken filet on bun
Lettuce and tomato
One packet or tartar sauce
Four ounces of baked beans
Four ounces or coleslaw
Four ounces of fruit cup
Six-ounce chicken fried steak
Two ounces of cream gravy
Four ounces of black-eyed peas
Four ounces of green beans
One dinner roll
Four ounces of french fries
Four ounces of ice cream
One teaspoon of margarine
One packet of ketchup
Here is a sample day's breakfast menu after July 9, when officials changed to a cold breakfast:
Two ounces of cheddar cheese
Six crackers
One piece of fresh fruit
One doughnut
Eight ounces of milk (1 percent fat)