Improving the Food Environment in Washington State–Run Correctional Facilities: The Healthy Commissary Project

Abstract

Improvements to correctional facilities’ food environment can provide healthier food and beverage options for incarcerated individuals, a population disproportionately affected by chronic disease. This article describes efforts to increase healthy options in the commissary program at Washington State correctional facilities from 2017 to 2019, and the role of a multidisciplinary collaboration between the state’s Department of Corrections, Department of Health, and Statewide Family Council. Through the development, implementation, and promotion of nutrition standards, the nutritional quality of foods and beverages in the commissary program improved.

The Menu Served in Canadian Penitentiaries: A Nutritional Analysis

“…The issue around sodium is complex since there is evidence that during incarceration, people rely heavily on food from the commissary store, which is basically a convenience store within the penitentiary [20,[35][36][37]. Commissary stores typically sell junk food [37,38] and the food purchased there generally is high in sodium [39]. The food available in the Canadian prison environments comes from two sources: food provided by food services and the commissary store [6].…”

“…Using them could overestimate the caloric needs of the incarcerated males and potentially increase further weight gain [7]. Whereas, using ideal weight to calculate caloric needs could underestimate nutritional needs and may lead individuals to use commissary foods as a supplement to the national menu, which may also lead to further weight gain [6,35,38,45]. We opted for the adjusted body weight method, where 25% of the difference between actual and ideal body weight is added to ideal body weight to assess nutritional needs [25] as a more balanced approach.…”