Breaking the Cycle

The prison system in the US is obviously flawed. As a nation having more than 2 million people incarcerated, we are far from seeing the lowest crime rates as a result. In fact, all we do is release prisoners after a certain number of years and thrust them out with no skills or help. Inevitably, they end up behind bars once again. The NY Times has a refreshing article detailing how one ex-inmate established a place for others to prepare for life in the outside world. No doubt there are other programs out there that endeavor to help former inmates in the same way. But it strikes me as odd that these programs are struggling to scrape together enough funding to keep their operations afloat, while we pour taxpayer money into building and maintaining prisons that perpetuate the cycle of imprisonment. If we diverted more of these funds into programs like Mr. Graham's, in the end we'd save lives and money.

Mmm...Tastes Like Prison

Bart Simpson once described meatloaf as his "most hated of all loaves." Bart never tasted what they're serving in Vermont state prisons: Nutraloaf. According to the ever-so-helpful, human-run search engine, Mahalo, Nutraloaf is "a food loaf served as punishment to unruly prisoners in many United States prisons." Though recipes vary, it's commonly made of whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk, and dehydrated potato flakes.

Fast Facts on Nutraloaf include:
1. Many prisoners would rather go hungry than to eat this meal
2. It has been used for years across the country
3. It is often served on a single piece of paper
4. No utensils are required to eat it, thus no utensils for the inmates to throw
5. It's so high in fiber it can cause gastric illness

Sounds yummy! So yummers, in fact, that the Vermont State Supreme Court will hear a class-action suit brought by inmates who say it's punishment and that anyone subjected to it should get a formal disciplinary process first. "It's commonplace in other states as a way of providing nutrition in a mechanism that dissuades inmates from throwing feces, urine, trays, and silverware," said Corrections Commissioner Rob Hofmann. He added, "It tends to have the desired outcome." You don't say!

Typically, I come off as fairly Liberal on this blog, but here comes my conservative side with a force so powerful that it thrusts me to stay Moderate. There's a reason why they call prison "prison." Because it's prison! Does Nutraloaf sound disgusting? Hell yes. Should it be given as punishment if unprovoked? Hell no. But frankly, if you're throwing feces like a monkey in the zoo, don't expect a tasty banana in return.