Prison Food in QLD -
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Prison Food in QLD -
No posh nosh in jail
INMATES at Queensland prisons are unlikely to be drooling when it comes to meal times.
A Queensland Correctional Services menu shows jailhouse cuisine has not progressed far from the stale bread and water of days gone by.
While inmates in Victoria sit down to appetising dishes of felafel, feta cheese and spinach strudel, chicken, fettuccine carbonara and hamburgers and chips, Queensland prisoners receive more basic fare as the state spends less than $6 a day to feed each prisoner.
And if any of Queensland's 5250 inmates want any "luxuries" such as tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits, they have to pay for it.
"Prison food is nothing flash – they're not there to dine a la carte," a Corrective Services spokesman said.
"If anyone thinks life in prison is like being in a hotel, think again."
Inmates, who prepare the meals themselves under supervision, start the day with a breakfast of cereal, toast and milk.
Lunch is likely to be bread, cold meat or tuna with salad.
Occasionally, inmates are treated to sausage rolls baked in the kitchen or savoury mince.
For dinner, prisoners can expect to sit down to a meal of "meat and three veg" – the meat alternating between sausages, pies or chicken, with the occasional fish dish.
Fruit is provided during the day.
Correctional Services records show it costs taxpayers just $1.90 per meal for each prisoner – even less for inmates at farm prisons where they grow their own vegetables. The low catering overheads help keep Queensland's total cost per prisoner each day to $146 – $14 less than the national average.
The spokesman said prison menus met all humanitarian and nutritional guidelines.
"We have a responsibility to inmates but at the same time, a meal is a meal," he said.
Despite their basic meals, prisoners rarely complain.
"Many consider three meals a day a step forward," the official said.
Victorian authorities upgraded their prison menus last year after inmates complained.
A group of anonymous prisoners compiled a five-week report on a caterer's offerings, describing some meals as "fatty, inedible slop".
INMATES at Queensland prisons are unlikely to be drooling when it comes to meal times.
A Queensland Correctional Services menu shows jailhouse cuisine has not progressed far from the stale bread and water of days gone by.
While inmates in Victoria sit down to appetising dishes of felafel, feta cheese and spinach strudel, chicken, fettuccine carbonara and hamburgers and chips, Queensland prisoners receive more basic fare as the state spends less than $6 a day to feed each prisoner.
And if any of Queensland's 5250 inmates want any "luxuries" such as tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits, they have to pay for it.
"Prison food is nothing flash – they're not there to dine a la carte," a Corrective Services spokesman said.
"If anyone thinks life in prison is like being in a hotel, think again."
Inmates, who prepare the meals themselves under supervision, start the day with a breakfast of cereal, toast and milk.
Lunch is likely to be bread, cold meat or tuna with salad.
Occasionally, inmates are treated to sausage rolls baked in the kitchen or savoury mince.
For dinner, prisoners can expect to sit down to a meal of "meat and three veg" – the meat alternating between sausages, pies or chicken, with the occasional fish dish.
Fruit is provided during the day.
Correctional Services records show it costs taxpayers just $1.90 per meal for each prisoner – even less for inmates at farm prisons where they grow their own vegetables. The low catering overheads help keep Queensland's total cost per prisoner each day to $146 – $14 less than the national average.
The spokesman said prison menus met all humanitarian and nutritional guidelines.
"We have a responsibility to inmates but at the same time, a meal is a meal," he said.
Despite their basic meals, prisoners rarely complain.
"Many consider three meals a day a step forward," the official said.
Victorian authorities upgraded their prison menus last year after inmates complained.
A group of anonymous prisoners compiled a five-week report on a caterer's offerings, describing some meals as "fatty, inedible slop".