A key finding was that they\u00a0do\u00a0not provide\u00a0enough fruits,\u00a0vegetables\u00a0or protein.\u00a0It\u00a0was found that\u00a0correctional facilities\u00a0serve about 50% of\u00a0the\u00a0recommended\u00a0amount of\u00a0fruit, and 80% of the recommended\u00a0amount\u00a0of vegetables and protein.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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An illustration of a food tray in prison. (Emily Kenny\/Spectrum News 1)<\/p>\n
Mohawk Correctional Facility is home to a food processing\u00a0department\u00a0that\u00a0supplies the state\u2019s prisons with their meals. The food is batch-cooked\u00a0and chilled, then sent to the other\u00a0correctional facilities\u00a0where it is reheated. Ryan used to work\u00a0in the food processing sector\u00a0while he was incarcerated there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stuff that I used to see\u00a0come\u00a0through there, I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0think\u00a0nobody\u00a0out here in society would want to eat. If you were in that processing department, you\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0want to eat it\u00a0because\u00a0of how it came,\u201d\u00a0Ryan said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sumeet Sharma, director of policy for CANY, said they would like to see more fresh food preparation at a facility level versus this batch model.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven\u00a0if\u00a0they do\u00a0have\u00a0vegetables\u00a0in that food, it\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0been freshly prepared.\u00a0It’s\u00a0essentially food\u00a0that has been centrally created at Mohawk Correctional Facility and shipped around the\u00a0state, Sharma said.\u00a0\u201cI imagine\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0cook-chill\u00a0process\u00a0has some role\u00a0in there being a higher sodium content in a lot of that food,\u201d Sharma said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A\u00a02020 report<\/a> from Impact Justice, a national accountability organization for law enforcement and prisons, found that in 2018, New York spent $2.84 per meal for each\u00a0incarcerated person.<\/p>\n CANY suggested adding more cooking facilities to the\u00a0prisons; however, DOCCS said in response to the report that it\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0feasible\u00a0due to security requirements.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe department offers all incarcerated\u00a0individuals, not serving disciplinary\u00a0sanctions, with access to hot pots.\u00a0Regarding\u00a0access\u00a0to cooking equipment, when\u00a0appropriate\u00a0and\u00a0feasible,\u00a0incarcerated individuals are\u00a0afforded\u00a0access to other amenities such as cooktops, toasters, microwaves, ice\u00a0machines\u00a0and refrigerators,\u201d\u00a0the department\u2019s\u00a0response said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael Capers was incarcerated at the age of\u00a016 and\u00a0spent about 12 years in the prison system. He too spent time in a few different facilities, such as Franklin Correctional Facility,\u00a0Upstate Correctional Facility and Fishkill Correctional.\u00a0Because of his\u00a0family history of heart issues, Capers said he always paid attention to the food he ate\u00a0and his heart health.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOnce I got inside, I was working out consistently, and still I was having an increase in blood pressure. It was mostly because the food we eat is either hyper-processed or high in sodium,\u201d Capers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u00a0said he realized he had high blood pressure at the age of 24.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, in what a lot of people would call\u00a0perfect\u00a0shape.\u00a0I was running a\u00a05-to-6-minute\u00a0mile and still I had\u00a0this high\u00a0blood pressure and imminent heart disease,\u201d Capers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even after trying a vegetarian diet, Capers said he\u00a0ultimately had\u00a0to go on medication to lower his blood pressure.\u00a0Since\u00a0his release,\u00a0he\u00a0has\u00a0maintained\u00a0his blood pressure through a healthy diet.<\/p>\n A 2016 report by the\u00a0Department of Justice<\/a> found that more than a quarter of state and federal inmates have high blood\u00a0pressure,\u00a0and it is\u00a0the\u00a0most common chronic condition among this population.\u00a0<\/p>\n An illustration of a food tray in prison. (Emily Kenny\/Spectrum News 1)<\/p>\n It was found that the daily meals in New York prisons\u00a0contain, on average,\u00a04,000\u00a0mg\u00a0of sodium per day, which is 174% of the recommended amount of\u00a02,300\u00a0mg.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said in a statement that their meals are\u00a0analyzed\u00a0by a DOCCS dietician to ensure they\u00a0are following\u00a0the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe department cannot substantiate claims that an individual\u2019s blood pressure worsened due to facility food. Blood pressure can be affected by many factors, including stress, preexisting medical conditions, activity\u00a0levels and medications. Without specific medical evidence, it is not possible to attribute changes\u00a0in blood pressure to facility meals,\u201d the statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Emily\u00a0Gozy, a registered dietitian\u00a0who\u00a0runs her own private practice, said that while including higher-quality ingredients may be more\u00a0expensive,\u00a0it could reduce costs in other areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe cost would absolutely go up with providing more nutritious meals, but I think that might help to reduce health care costs and reduce some of even the specialized diets that might have to\u00a0occur\u00a0due to someone\u2019s dietary restrictions from health issues,\u201d\u00a0Gozy\u00a0said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The CANY report highlighted that DOCCS\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0provide enough fruits and vegetables.\u00a0Gozy\u00a0said she agreed with that\u00a0assessment and\u00a0made\u00a0a\u00a0couple of other recommendations.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u00a0was\u00a0a lot of sugar-sweetened beverages that were offered with meals and that was offered in place of\u00a0maybe offering\u00a0a piece of fruit.\u00a0Most meals were offered with\u00a0dessert.\u00a0Is that something we have to do?\u00a0Can we focus on some other things and\u00a0maybe\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0dessert at dinner\u00a0time,\u00a0but we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0need dessert at lunch and dinner,\u201d\u00a0Gozy\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Challenges with commissary\u00a0<\/p>\n Commissary provides those who are incarcerated with the ability to\u00a0purchase\u00a0food, hygiene\u00a0products,\u00a0and other necessities that\u00a0are\u00a0not otherwise provided.\u00a0In 14 of the 17\u00a0prisons\u00a0that\u00a0housed inmates who responded to CANY\u2019s survey, more than half said\u00a0the commissary\u00a0is not adequately stocked.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Capers said his experience with the commissary options varied based on the facility he\u00a0was in;\u00a0for example, in Franklin Correctional Facility, they stocked vegetables.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey always had mixed vegetables, and potatoes and carrots and stuff that you could actually cook and try to maintain a healthy\u00a0diet,\u00a0but when I got to Fishkill, they have a small commissary but a big population, so there\u2019s limits on almost everything,\u201d Capers said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Often, Capers said he could order four packs of\u00a0corn,\u00a0but then when he would\u00a0go\u00a0pick it up, they\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0have the items he ordered.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0get a makeup buy to receive the stuff that you wanted, you just\u00a0gotta\u00a0wait till the next commissary,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Ryan said during his time incarcerated, there were complaints about a lack of produce in the commissary and that over time,\u00a0he\u00a0saw\u00a0improvements,\u00a0but it\u00a0still presented issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor commissary, they have their contract with their local farmers, but the majority of the produce that\u2019s stocked in the commissary areas, some of\u00a0it’s\u00a0spoiled, and they try to get it out as fast as they can, depending on who\u2019s buying and ordering,\u201d Ryan said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Under Gov. Kathy Hochul,\u00a0New York\u00a0implemented\u00a0Executive\u00a0Order 32,\u00a0which requires state agencies, including prisons, to\u00a0purchase\u00a030% of their food products from New York farmers and producers.\u00a0In 2024, DOCCS purchased $9.1 million worth of New York food products,\u00a0according to a report<\/a> from the state Office of General Services.\u00a0<\/p>\n The top three\u00a0food items\u00a0purchased\u00a0by DOCCS\u00a0in 2024 include\u00a0277,172 pounds\u00a0of potatoes,\u00a0174,070 pounds\u00a0of frozen\u00a0apples\u00a0and\u00a0514,774 pounds\u00a0of cabbage.\u00a0<\/p>\n CANY\u2019s report found that only 7% of\u00a0food and drink\u00a0items listed in the commissary were fruits or vegetables.\u00a0<\/p>\n Additionally, the report\u00a0stated\u00a0that prices of items in the commissary\u00a0rise\u00a0at rates above inflation, while the wages paid to those incarcerated are decreasing when adjusted for inflation.\u00a0Between 2020\u00a0and 2025, commissary prices\u00a0rose at twice\u00a0the rate of the Consumer Price Index.\u00a0Sharma said CANY found that some wages are incredibly low.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0dealing with prison wages that are as low as 10 cents, 12 cents an hour, essentially for\u00a0some jobs. You can imagine\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0very difficult\u00a0to afford anything from the commissary, let alone enough food to\u00a0supplement\u00a0a diet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Delays in receiving packages\u00a0<\/p>\n With what they called a lack of nutritious meals and the availability of food in the commissary,\u00a0both Capers and Ryan said they\u00a0turned to their family to\u00a0receive packages,\u00a0but\u00a0items\u00a0in the packages would\u00a0spoil\u00a0or they would be missing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou get a\u00a040-pound\u00a0package\u00a0sent,\u00a0and you go to the package room, and you\u00a0look,\u00a0and it weighs\u00a0only 20 pounds,\u201d Ryan said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Capers said\u00a0he\u00a0told\u00a0his loved ones not to send certain things because he knew they would spoil, despite them sending them with priority shipping.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would get there the next day, and then they\u2019ll take four or five days, sometimes even longer than that, to get you a package, so by the time you get it, they tell you that you have to throw [things] away because it was spoiled as if it was\u00a0your fault,\u201d Capers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Almost half of the respondents to CANY\u2019s survey said they experienced spoilage in their packages. Some facilities\u00a0contain\u00a0refrigerators,\u00a0but not all,\u00a0which can lead to inconsistencies among\u00a0the different prisons.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Kenny_Prison_food_02.jpeg\")
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