July/August 2008 Issue

What Is Nutraloaf, Anyway?

Plus, pruno, “prison pizza,” and more cruel and unusual nourishment

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FEAR AND LOAFING
VERMONT PRISONERS SAY NUTRALOAF IS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL NOURISHMENT. PRISON OFFICIALS SAY IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER.

“Nutraloaf is a ‘food product’ composed of ‘whole wheat bread, non-dairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, Great Northern beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk, and dehydrated potato flakes;’ these ingredients are ‘mixed and baked.'” —Vermont appellate court brief, November 2006

“Nutraloaf is neither punishment, nor is its quality inferior to that of regular inmate meals…[It] is only provided to inmates who are placed in segregated confinement for the misuse of food and bodily waste.” —Prison official’s legal memorandum, Vermont Superior Court, September 2005

“If defendant wants to continue to spin out his Orwellian fantasy, and claim that nutraloaf is of the same ‘quality’ as normal prison food, this Court need only order a judicial tasting.” —Prisoners’ memorandum, Vermont Superior Court, September 2005

MEAN CUISINE
Prison moonshine, or pruno, is made by sealing fruit, sugar, ketchup, and water in a garbage bag, often stored inside a toilet for several days.

Tired of mess-hall food, some prisoners prepare “prison pizza”—a crust of ramen noodles and crushed chips or crackers, topped with cheese spread and sausage.

FASHION CRIMES
Inmates in Arizona’s Maricopa County Jail work on chain gangs (tasks include digging graves), wear black-and-white stripes, and are fed two 15-cent meals daily.

Prisoners in South Carolina who masturbate publicly or sexually assault each other or staff are made to wear pink uniforms for 3 months.

CROWD CONTROL
According to a Prison Legal News investigation, overcrowding has caused sewage spills in more than 30 prisons in 17 states, causing wastewater contamination, disease outbreaks, and inmates’ deaths.

San Juan County Detention Center in New Mexico, Georgia’s Hancock State Prison, and Maricopa County Jail house inmates in tents.

The Mojo Prison Guide Menu

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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