Should edible food be a human right?

In prison, the food is so bad, inmates eat it only to live

More Than Our Crimes
9 min readDec 11, 2020

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The coronavirus has made prison food even more gross (photo credit: The Marshall Project).

By Pam Bailey

For most people, a high point of the winter holidays — actually, of life in general — is food. Think about it: So much of the way we socialize, mark special occasions and even comfort ourselves is centered on food. There’s a reason why certain dishes are called “comfort food,” after all.

But in jail and prison, says Anthony “Pete” Petty, “we basically eat to live. The food is that bad, both in taste and nutrition.”

Pete in the DC jail

Today, Pete walks free for the first time in 30 years; imprisoned since he was 16, he was granted reprieve by DC’s leadership law, the Incarceration Reduction Amendment act. One of the things he most looks forward to is his sister’s home cooking. What’s at the top of his request list? “Fish and chips,” he says immediately. “Or….wait, the meal I really want is breakfast. I want pancakes, real maple syrup, scrambled eggs with cheese and some turkey bacon, and some fresh orange juice. That’s what I want right there.” (Pete is starting from scratch to build a new life. Want to help set him up for success and happiness…

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More Than Our Crimes

Rob Barton has been incarcerated for 26 years. Pam Bailey is his collaborator/editor. Learn more at MoreThanOurCrimes.org