EATING BEHIND BARS

ending the hidden punishment of food in prison

“This eye-opening book will convince you that everyone - absolutely everyone - is deserving of nourishing food that affirms their humanity and dignity.”

José Andrés, Chef and Humanitarian

“In a nation obsessed with food and health, Eating Behind Bars asks us to consider what it’s like to have no choice in what you eat and be dependent on foods known to be unhealthy. This portal to a world out of sight also suggests how to create a common table big enough for all of us.”

Mark Bittman, award-winning food journalist and author of How to Cook Everything

A vivid exploration of an unseen food crisis affecting millions of Americans, Eating Behind Bars sheds new light on the power—and peril—of what’s on our plates.

Prisons and jails are America’s hidden “food deserts,” where hunger and malnourishment coexist with shocking levels of food waste because much of what is served is so awful it ends up in the trash. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are tense and humiliating when incarcerated people are forced to eat in silence, finish meals within minutes, and disciplined with food deliberately worse than the standard fare.

This disturbing portrait came to light in 2020 when Impact Justice released the first-ever national examination of food in prison. This landmark book digs deeper, revealing a systemic drive to cut costs at the expense of health and decency. It is also a story of resistance and hope, chronicling how incarcerated people and their allies are fighting back, as well as exploring “farm to tray” programs, chef-led initiatives, and other ways to make food in prison a source of healing and bring dignity back to the table.

“It's harder to ignore a problem when you understand it. Documenting the experience of eating behind bars shows how the food that's made and eaten every day by two million people who depend on it is far from okay. This knowledge is the beginning of a better path forward.”

Dan Giusti, Chef and Founder/CEO of Brigaid

  • Leslie soble dares to expose the truth I once lived: in prison, food is punishment. eating behind bars documents the cruelty baked into every tray and the workings of a system that starves body and soul, robbing people of their humanity.

    Susan Burton, author and founder of A New Way of Life

  • I had my first mango when I was nineteen years old and in solitary confinement at Sussex 1 State Prison. I didn’t even know what the fragrant, delicious fruit was until five years later, when I was home. And for those five years, I would sometimes think of that mango, like everyone else Inside, craving fresh vegetables, fruit—a real meal. Eating Behind Bars isn’t just about how bad things are. It’s about how good things should be and how we might get there—and it's a reminder that in a just world, that mango wouldn’t have felt like a miracle. It would’ve been expected.

    Reginald Dwayne Betts, poet, legal scholar, and founder/director of Freedom Reads

“AS THIS EXCELLENT BOOK DEMONSTRATES…FREE OR UNFREE, WE ARE WHAT WE EAT.”

Eric Schlosser, journalist and author of Fast Food Nation

About Impact Justice

Impact Justice is a national research and innovation nonprofit working to advance safety, justice, and opportunity for the millions of people impacted by the criminal justice system in the United States.

Learn more at impactjustice.org.