A Small Helping Of Porridge 3: The Wiseguy Option

“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster ...”

Thus starts Martin Scorsese’s visceral crime saga, Goodfellas. The movie is notable for many reasons, not least of which is, it contains arguably the best ‘cooking in prison’ scene in celluloid history.

Holed up on ‘Gangster Row’ in the early seventies, Henry Hill, Paulie and their cohorts admittedly don’t suffer much in the way of privations, as they more or less run the prison. Every night they get together and cook - pasta and a meat course - each man handling a different aspect of the operation, like a well-run restaurant kitchen. 

The scene is possibly the most positive in the film, as we watch these violent and dangerous men work together peacefully and good-humouredly prepare a meal they will all share. Via food, and their shared love of food, they are humanised. They are shown to care.

Goodfellas was based on the memoirs of reformed gangster, Henry Hill, and he has spoken of it being 95-99% accurate. To what extent we should believe this statement is open to question, but the scene has a certain verisimilitude, and Hill went on to become a chef, so his love of food is not up for debate. He tells of fabulous produce smuggled in by Rabbis and Priests and, tellingly, he states that life in prison wasn’t too bad, except that it cost between $2000 and $3000 per month to keep them in fresh food, wine and spirits.

It would seem that prison in this instance provides a microcosm of the outside world, inasmuch as the rich and powerful can afford to pay for all the joys that good eating can bring.

This provides an interesting context for a recent episode at the UN International Criminal Court detention centre in Scheveningen. 

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor - being held on a charge of crimes against humanity - declared prison food to be an abomination and organised a cooking club. His views were echoed by detained Serbian war criminal, Vojislav Seselji, who, with a blistering disregard for irony declared prison food to be a ‘daily torture’.

Both men could afford to buy decent food and enjoy the luxury of cooking it themselves, but I would like to suggest that that should be a right, not a luxury.

To commit crime is undoubtedly an antisocial act, but to deprive people of their liberty is also an antisocial act. If criminals are to have any chance of rehabilitation, we have to recognise and give them a chance to reconnect with their cultural communities. The preparation of food, from growing of produce and tending of livestock, through to cooking, eating and sharing is surely a way to do this. And this should be available to all, not just the violent, psychopathic, but above all, wealthy.

- Goodfellas (1990) Directed by Martin Scorsese [DVD]. Los Angeles: Warner Brothers Inc.

- Hill, H. (2004) ‘The Workaday Gangster’. Interviewed by J. Kaplan. Goodfellas [DVD]. Los Angeles: Warner Brothers Inc.

- Verduijin, G. (2011) ‘War Crimes Suspects ‘Tortured’ By Prison Food’, 11 November, all Africa [Online]. Available at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201111120170.html (Accessed: 14 November 2011)

A Small Helping Of Porridge 2: A Healthy Stretch?

The UK prison population is at an all-time high. It currently stands at 87,749 and if trends continue looks to rise even higher. That’s a lot of mouths to feed, and the manner in which they’re fed is worthy of consideration.

In 2006 the National Audit Office published a report which examined the diet and exercise of British prisoners. Amongst its conclusions were that the £94m per year that was spent on feeding prisoners could be reduced and that their diets should be healthier. Average salt intake was shown to be a whopping 93% higher than recommended and there was far too much reliance on ready made foods, such as pies and burgers. But, with an average of only £1.87 per head to spend, is it any wonder? 

Undoubtedly prison food has improved over the years. Time was when prisoners were fed mostly stodge in order to make them more docile and sluggish and, hence, easier to control. 

Recognising the dietary needs of the various cultures which comprise the prison population has resulted in greater choice and halal meat and vegetarian options must now appear on all prison menus. However, a policy is only ever as good as its implementation. In 2008, due to a “regrettable administrative error” 200 Muslim inmates in HMP Leeds were served up ham sandwiches during Ramadan.

Prisoners, by their very nature, have very few choices. One of them - albeit a limited one - is what they eat. Hence, many of them, are acting against expectations and eschewing the more unhealthy menu options, thus giving them a greater personal control over their health and wellbeing.

But is the prisoners’ diet in jeopardy? With great swathes of the British public outraged at the idea that they get fed at all and more and more aspects of the prison service being privatised, change is surely in the air.

Maybe it is only a matter of time before a supermarket giant takes advantage of the captive market a prison offers, the catering facilities disappear (and along with them any opportunities for culinary training) and inmates have to make use of communal microwaves. What chance the healthy option then?

- Walker, D. (2006) ‘The modern prisoners’ diet’, BBC News Website, 4 April [online]. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4832552.stm (Accessed: 28 September 2011)

- Williams, Z. (2011) ‘The great prison sell-off’ The Guardian, 5 November, p. 40-41

- National Audit Office (2006) ‘Serving Time: Prisoner Diet and Exercise’ [online]. Available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0506/prisoner_diet_and_exercise.aspx (Accessed: 8 November 2011)

A Small Helping Of Porridge 1: The Last Meal

For a liberal democracy, America executes an alarmingly high number of its citizens and although 16 States don’t have the death penalty, in 2010 the remaining 34 still managed to dispatch 47 people and awarded over 100 the death sentence.

Texas tops the charts when it comes to executing its inmates: 17 people at the state’s behest in 2010. Which amounts to 17 last meals. Quite literally, the ultimate culinary experience, served up on a segmented plastic tray.

Prisons have  never provided an a la carte menu when it comes to last meals. The prisoner would generally get an approximation in accordance with what was in the prison kitchen. You may request t-bone steak, but you may get a burger. Most of Texas’ condemned men ordered meals you would associate with their childhood, or, at least, happier times on the outside: simple fare such as fried chicken or barbecue ribs. Although one James Edwards Smith requested some dirt - which he planned to use in a Voodoo ritual. His request was denied because dirt was not on the approved list of prison foods and he had to settle for a yoghurt instead.

However, it has recently been decided in Texas to abolish the ritual last meal altogether on the twin grounds of cost and, more significantly, ethos.

The history of the last meal can be traced back to ancient democracies such as Greece or Rome and seems to be based on the notion of the State making peace with the prisoner before applying sentence. It has always been shot through with a large dose of myth such as that bedrock of the Christian faith, The Last Supper. So, are the governors of Texas trying to rewrite history or rewrite mythology?

Brian Price, a former inmate of Texas prisons and now a chef offered to provide all future last meals at his own expense. The state said thanks, but no thanks. Their viewpoint was put very succinctly by Senator John Whitemore, who referred to the tradition as “ridiculous and illogical.”

Interestingly, according to witnesses, most last meals remain uneaten. It would seem that the  meal has mostly a symbolic rather than a nutritional value. Any state which elects to remove a prisoner’s life, but then opts  to remove that prisoner’s final freedom to gaze upon a pork chop whilst contemplating their own mortality seems mean-spirited to say the least.

- Rogers, S. (2011) ‘Death penalty statistics from the US: which state executes the most people?’, The Guardian, 21 September [online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/Sep/21/death-penalty-statistics-us

- Graczyk, M. (2011) ‘Former last meal cook wants practice continued, Houston Chronicle, 26 September [online]. Available at: http://www.chron.com/news/article/Former-last-meal-cook-wants-practice-continued-2189425.php

- Nasaw, D. (2011) ‘Last Meal: What’s the point of this death row ritual?’, BBC News Magazine, Washington, 26 September [online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/magazine-15040658

- Conklin, RD. (2011) ‘Famous death row last meals’, Huffington Post, 17 June [online]. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/17/famous-last-meals_n_879020.htmls293776&title=Robert_Dale_Conklin

- Powell, C. (2011) ‘A Prisoner’s Final Meal And The Nature Of Our Democracy’, Emory Centre For Ethics, 6 October. Available at: emoryethics.blogspot.com/2011/10/prisoners-final-meal-and-nature-of-our.html