Prisons

How does it work currently?

The prison sector surprised us. On a budget of just £2.15/day/person for breakfast, lunch, dinner, bread and beverage packs they cater for people who have little say in food served and probably aren’t interested in local sourcing. Despite this the prison sector is one of the furthest ahead in its strategy to serve local, nutritional food. It was the only sector to have precise figures for local sourcing across the whole sector:

62% of the food they source from Bidfood (1121 different food lines across fresh, frozen and ambient) and 100% of the bread they source from Hovis is UK produced.

This partly comes from the passion of Al Crisci. Formerly the Prisons Catering Services Manager and founder and former director of The Clink Charity, Al has just embarked on a new role as the operational lead for EU Exit and Covid-19 food supply contingency as well as Improving Nutrition for HMPPS. In Al’s words:

“The punishment in prison is losing the freedom, not becoming malnourished and sick.”

Operational simplicity

What is particularly notable about the catering set-up at prisons, is its simplicity. They have a centralised procurement process for all prisons and work with just two suppliers who cater for all their needs. All prisons have their own fully operational kitchens with centrally managed in-house catering teams.  

This simplicity has enabled prisons to establish a senior leadership team focused on improving their catering service as a whole. Working with only two suppliers means that Al can focus on the strategy and pushing those suppliers to improve their product offering.

“We deal with one supplier, but that supplier will work with SMEs throughout the country. It’s much easier for us to performance manage the SLA of one contract. If we said we wanted to lower the sugar level across several food lines, it’s one conversation nationally. We can also negotiate prices on a national level. A splintered approach would be much more difficult.”

Working with academics on nutritional impact

The prison services have actively sought out academics to work with them on nutritional research projects aimed at improving the quality of life for prisoners. This is a win-win for both public sector and researchers. Public sector can access a knowledgeable team to support them, while the researchers gain access to a relatively controlled environment in which to analyse and test theories at scale. Al Crisci is working with Professor John Stein, Oxford University, Institute of Food, Brain and Behaviour and Professor Jonathan Tammam, programme Lead Nutrition, Oxford Brookes University. Two of Professor Tammam’s students have been analysing the prison menus to come up with nutritional recommendations. These recommendations are forming the basis of new menu guidelines. The menus will consider seasonality, UK produce, health and cost, although Al says that cost won’t be the driver. He adds: “Chefs are better motivated when they aren’t told what to do. The guide/menus will serve as inspiration and advice, however we will still ensure that nutritional standards are met in line with PHE guidelines.  

Strong supplier partnership

Al has been working with Bidfood for almost two years and during that time he has been channelling their focus on sourcing seasonal, UK produce with high nutritional value that will also cater for a whole range of dietary requirements. Until COVID he was meeting with Bidfood every week. Below are two examples of cost-effective UK products that have been developed through this partnership to cater for prisoners’ nutritional needs.

Vitamins

Prisoners are typically deficient in vitamin D as they are defined as an at-risk group and in line with government recommendations all prisoners have access to daily vitamin D supplements, but vegan prisoners are also often deficient in vitamin B12, selenium and iodine. Most vegans in society take daily supplements to counteract these deficiencies. The prison catering service is working to provide the nutrition required through fortified foods rather than solely tablet supplements. Together with Radnor Water in Wales, they have developed a low-calorie drink enriched with vitamins B, C, A and D.

Omega-3: There is strong evidence to show that omega-3 can reduce mood swings, sadness and depression. The prison services are embarking on a pilot studying the effects of omega-3 on reducing violence and suicides within prisons. To do this, they needed to find a source of omega-3 that prisoners would eat regularly. Their menu offers five choices to cover a range of dietary requirements. However, if one of those choices is an oily fish rich in omega-3, invariably prisoners choose a ‘more appealing’ option like a cheese burger. To get round this, they are developing foods such as a bread roll fortified with omega 3 as well as developing a nutrition awareness programme that will encourage healthier choices such as oily fish and avoid high fat, sugar and salt foods.

Al comments: “I think what I’m asking for will be beneficial not just for prisons, but also for schools and hospitals. This is encouraging Bidfood. They see the value.”

HMPPS is also piloting a digital platform (not online) which will provide nutritional information alongside menu items to track how this influences prisoner food choices.

Meet-the-buyer events

The supply chain needs to be robust and available when ordered. Brexit is putting even more focus on sourcing British produce and Al expects to see their 62% figure with Bidfood rising rapidly in the next year or two. Already they run regular meet-the-buyer days where UK SMEs can present their products to Bidfood and prison catering teams. Numerous UK producers have come on board this way.

Prison farms

Until 2005 prisons were self-sufficient in pork, bacon, eggs, salad crops and milk, all produced on prison farms. Prison pork was some of the best in the country. Since then most farms have been closed, but Al is enthusiastic about restarting them. Already grow-your-own schemes are included in prisoner industries workshops. One prison, Prescoed in Wales, has its own farm where they have a large dairy herd, chickens and grow vegetables.

On the lowest budget of all, prison catering demonstrates the art of the possible.

Importantly they have clear data and measure progress so they can share successes more meaningfully.

Prison farms could provide a model for school farms.

Similarly, an educational digital menu would be beneficial in schools. Many other public sector caterers could work more closely with academics on the nutritional impact of their menus.