Nutrition, safety considered in jail menu

ST. CHARLES – Freshly baked bread and cookies, fruits and vegetables, meat loaf, pasta and casseroles.

Not a bad selection for typical meals.

And, it's served up daily to inmates at the Kane County Jail.

Inmates receive three hot meals each day, including an entree, fresh vegetables or fruit, a beverage other than water and perhaps dessert, according to Sheriff's officials and the jail's food supplier.

Approved inmates also help prepare and serve the 1,300 meals served during a typical week at the jail, Lt. Pat Gengler said.

Gengler said the jail's menu follows standards set by the American Correctional Association, or ACA, which includes caloric and nutritional guidelines.

The standard dictates that each inmate eat at least 1,800 to 2,000 calories a day, but Kane County inmates typically receive more – closer to 2,900 a day, Gengler said.

Supplier Aramark provides the jail's food and has 10 registered dietitians on staff, helping plan out meals, Gengler said. Kristin Busche is one of those dietitians. She said planning a menu starts with understanding her client, in this case, the jail. She also said it's important to make sure the meal is nutritious, satisfying, tasteful and pleasing to the eye.

Sheriff's and county officials set forth requirements, and Busche helps them plan the menu, taking into account nutrition and ACA standards, along with special considerations for a secure, controlled environment like a jail.

For example, Gengler said inmates eat only boneless meat or poultry. The bone is considered a security risk because it can be sharpened into a shiv.

"If you're preparing a meal at home, you don't think about that, but we have to think about what [foods] can be used as a weapon," he said.

Gengler recalled a time when inmates were given a turkey leg for a special Thanksgiving meal. Corrections staff had to count each leg bone to make sure they received them all back right after the meal. Inmates also do not receive knives for their food for security reasons, Gengler added.

Gengler said providing inmates a satisfying meal also is important for behavior.

"We've got to feed them a decent meal," he said. "If you start feeding them really bad stuff they can't eat, there will be problems."

In 2007, some inmates sued Sheriff Pat Perez and Aramark for $2 million, claiming the meals were not "up to par," referencing "soggy cookies," among other accusations. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

Busche noted that the meals inside the jail, for some inmates, are healthier than the meals they were eating before incarceration. Inmates also are not served pork in order to abide by any religious beliefs, and food allergies are taken into account, Gengler said.

Busche also said part of her job is to show the inmates what a balanced meal contains.

"We like to think we are illustrating what a balanced meal does look like," Busche said, adding that if inmates leave the jail to go back into society, they might apply what they've learned to their regular diet.

When the new jail opened late last summer, Busche altered the menu to fit the new kitchen, which has large, industrial ovens. This resulted in fresh baked rolls and cookies, she said.

Although some of the meals served might have a higher caloric content for inmates who might be more sedentary than a typical person, Busche said each meal is nutritionally balanced. She also pointed out that jails, unlike prisons, are not longterm incarceration facilities.

"There's a lot of things we need to consider in this environment," she said. "It's a science, and it's taken very seriously. All of us would like to have a registered dietitian writing our menus."