Leonard Bishop testified before the D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety last week, representing the perspectives of his approximately 1,300 constituents in the D.C. Jail. Bishop, the elected advisory neighborhood commissioner for the jail, spoke in support of a bill that would transform the D.C. Department of Corrections’ food service program and ensure that incarcerated individuals have access to safe and nourishing meals.
No other jail residents were allowed to testify—a circumstance that Bishop has spoken in support of changing. Then, less than a week after his testimony, Bishop was transferred, without explanation, from the D.C. Jail back into a Bureau of Prisons facility.
Bishop joined several others who spoke in overwhelming support of the Food Regulation Ensures Safety Hospitality Special Training Aids Reentry Transition and Success Act of 2023, dubbed the FRESH STARTS Act.
“To describe the meals being provided as simply ‘offensive’ would be to do a disservice to the gravity of the situation,” Bishop said. “These meals, primarily comprised of processed soy and canned goods, are not only severely lacking in essential nutrients but are also frequently outdated or in varying stages of spoilage. Fruits and vegetables, vital elements of any balanced diet, are either not served at all, overripe or overcooked, rendering them barely edible. This state of affairs is a flagrant disregard for the basic beliefs of human dignity and stands in stark contradiction to the established norms of correctional institutions.”
Bishop said the act offers a “glimmer of hope” for incarcerated people, who are forced to rely on purchasing food from the jail’s commissary “due to the inedible nature of the meals being provided.
“The infrequent provision of uncooked vegetables by the Department of Corrections serves as a rare oasis in an otherwise nutritionally deficient landscape,” Bishop said.
A common thread running through several witnesses’ testimony was how the lack of nutritional foods affects physical and psychological health. Some argued in support of a high protein diet, and one that is full of fresh fruits and vegetables.
“Nourishing food is a human right and that right does not stop at the door of the jail,” said Leslie Soble, the senior program manager of the Food in Prison Project, which works to expand “fresh, nourishing, and appealing” food in prisons.
“Lack of access to adequate nutrition can turn any sentence into a life sentence,” said Iris Benson-Sulzer, special assistant to the executive director at DC Justice Lab. “A public health crisis at the D.C. Jail is a public health crisis in D.C. By investing in the health of our neighbors at the jail, we invest in the health and safety of our community.”
According to Jessie Silverman, a registered dietician and senior policy associate with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the D.C. Jail spends about $6 to $8 per person per day to feed incarcerated people. These financial constraints contribute to lack of nutritious meals in the D.C. jail.
In 2021, D.C. Greens led the DC Jail Food Community Conversation Series to raise awareness for the conditions of the D.C. Jail’s food service program through firsthand accounts of formerly incarcerated individuals and the short- and long-term impacts it had on them.
During the first conversation, previous residents of the jail shared that food inside the facility was often cold, which took away the flavor, was frequently left out and thus became moldy, and that there was residue from previous meals on the plates and silverware.
“Every person is entitled to be treated with dignity no matter their status,” said Winnie Huston, policy strategist with D.C. Greens. “Studies show that a lack of adequate nutrition contributes to poor behavior and diminished mental and physical health. This type of degradation not only harms those incarcerated, it also increases risks and stress for workers in the field.”
Despite an outcry of support, one of the lone voices in opposition came from DOC Director Dr. Thomas Faust.
Faust took issue with a provision in the bill that would require kitchen workers to be paid a living wage, and said the pay disparity between the food preparers and other detainees employed in different DOC jobs could raise tensions in the jail. He also said the legislation would increase the jail’s cost budget over the current $6.5 million per year figure.
The bill was introduced by Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who chairs the public safety committee. The bill was co-introduced by a majority of the D.C. Council, including Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin, Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray, and at-large councilmembers Christina Henderson and Robert White.
If signed into law, the act will set standards for nutrient-dense foods served in the jail, require DOC to adopt the Good Food Purchasing Program, strengthen oversight of food and nutrition in correctional facilities, and establish a task force to explore long-term improvements. The Good Food Purchasing Program encourages large institutions to direct their buying power toward five core values: local economies, environmental sustainability, valued workforce, animal welfare, and nutrition.