While I was in prison, I was the food procurement clerk. It was my job to work with the first cook to design the daily food menu (a 6-week cycle) and then make sure the men were fed on a budget of $2.60 per person per day. The Best Xmas prison meal, a thread...
Believe it or not, it was relatively easy to serve 3 fairly healthy, hearty meals to men for only $2.60 per person per day - because I was buying in bulk.
In 2011, my last Christmas in prison, I wanted to make it special. I got permission from the Lieutenant to use my grandmother’s recipes for the meal served to my fellow incarcerated men.
I procured ten large turkeys and stayed up all night in the kitchen baking and carving them. The stuffing was made like stuffing should be made - inside the turkey.
The meal also had green bean casserole with French fried onions and freshly mashed potatoes. There was pumpkin pie. I even made a fresh cranberry sauce for the guys.
It was the best Christmas meal I ever had in prison, not just because it tasted good - but because it was made with my grandmother’s recipes and came from my heart.
And I realize this job of mine probably sounds strange, but it gets even weirder. It was my job to negotiate prices with vendors. Change purchases when the market shifted. Apply for purchase orders. AND go to town and actually shop for the food (with C/O escort, of course).
Yes - I went grocery shopping every week, at Smart & Final, while I was incarcerated (the last 2+ years of my term).
As an aside, procuring the turkeys had to happen in a back door deal because the prison budgeting office wouldn’t allow whole turkeys as a purchase (“too fancy for inmates”). So I worked with the @LACOFD to have the turkeys donated for our Christmas meal.
I don’t want to give the impression that I was the only one cooking. I’m not that badass. There were five or six other men who did the cooking as well. If anything, I was helping them cook because I was better at budgeting than baking.
And why I was in prison.
I am no longer a prisoner. Today, I am an electrician, an elected trade union official, a husband, a homeowner, a voter, a Buddhist teacher, a photographer, a traveler, a sober person, a friend, amongst other things.
And if you’re on Titok, please follow me there. I like to tell stories. Same handle.
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