Is food more than a means of survival? An overview of the Balkan prison systems

Abstract

Food is a versatile national, social, and cultural marker. It represents more than just a means of survival (Stajcic, 2013); it is an expression of identity (Jones, 2017). Food has a symbolic power and carries a sense of community, relays customs, habits, and values. According to Godderis (2006), people "do" food. In institutional settings, such as prisons, often stripped of basic human rights and dignity, food can acquire yet another dimensions. It can become a means to pass time, regain normalcy, and cope with daily hardships. Despite its multifaceted importance, there is a paucity of research on prisoners' diet, with most being done on the US, UK, and Scandinavian prison systems (Smoyer, 2019;Smoyer and Kjaer Minke, 2015).This article drew from academic and non-academic sources (e.g., government reports, newspaper articles, prison blogs) to provide an overview of the Balkan prison systems through the lens of food. It will present weekly menus from three different countries and discuss alternative ways of accessing food in prisons (i.e., through prison commissary, prison farms, and food packages). It will further demonstrate prisoners' use of food to regain autonomy in the context of multiple deprivations. Lastly, this paper will reflect on the role of food, coffee, and cigarettes in prisoners' socialization, as well as in reiteration of prisoner subculture.

Implementation of Dietary Reference Intake Standards in Prison Menus in Poland

“…This can be ascribed to the vagueness of the legal regulations imposed on the nutrition standards in these institutions, especially in terms of the nutritional value of meals. Nevertheless, the Polish recommendations are more specific than in other countries, e.g., in the Balkans [19]. The German regulations only mention that the nutritional value of prison meals should be monitored by medical staff [20].…”

Dietary Habits, Diet Quality, Nutrition Knowledge, and Associations with Physical Activity in Polish Prisoners: A Pilot Study

“…The declaration of the consumption of three meals per day which was stated by the majority of the respondents (41.23%) is mainly related to the legal regulations specifying the number of meals that must be served in Polish prisons. Similar policies regarding the number of meals in prisons are implemented in other countries as well, e.g., the US [39,40], England [41], and the Balkan countries [42]. A higher number of meals (four) are served for juvenile detainees in the UK [43] and adult prisoners in Norway [44].…”

“…As shown by Elger [52], prisoners in Switzerland drink 1.5 ± 2 cups of coffee per day and 1.7 ± 2 cups of tea. In Balkan prisons, coffee is more popular than tea [42]. It is often used as a currency, which may provoke jealousy and conflicts between inmates.…”

Gastronomia, saber, sabor e inovação: estudo de caso do prato revirado

“…Alimentar-se é uma necessidade diária e base para a sobrevivência, por isso, é também objeto de luta e poder nos mais diferentes contextos da nossa história (COUNIHAN, 2001). A comida detém o poder simbólico de repassar crenças, valores e costumes, pois o ato de cozinhar é capaz de expressar nossa identidade (SIMANOVIC; GOSEV, 2019). De acordo com Diaz (2015), o ato de compartilhar comida e bebida define e reforça nossos laços sociais e afetivos.…”