Kitchen

Kitchen. . , Prison food. The phrase says it all. But in fact prison administrators worked hard in the early decades to provide inmates with unusually nutritious meals. The original system of strict isolation made no exception for mealtimes, however, and inmates ate alone in their cells., Things changed in later years. This kitchen was built in 1903, and, beginning in 1924, inmates ate together in makeshift dining halls., Prisons Today , The average cost of feeding an inmate in the United States is now about $1.45 per meal., Some prison food is intentionally bad. The old "bread and water" punishment diets have been replaced with a food called "nutraloaf.", [Captions:] , An inmate removes bread from the penitentiary ovens while a guard looks on. Photo from Warden Cassidy on Prisons and Convicts, 1897, collection of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site. Top right: The penitentiary dining halls, first used in 1924, were built inside the walls of old exercise yards. Here they are decorated for Christmas dinner, c. 1950. Photo: collection of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, gift of Jack Flynn. Bottom right: The dining halls today, as photographed by Mark Perrott for his book Hope Abandoned., Top: A kosher meal, pre-heating, Fishkill Correctional Facility in New York, 2010. Photo: Jennifer May., Bottom: An inmate cook prepares hot dogs for lunch. Fishkill Correctional Facility in New York, 2010. Photo: Jennifer May.