Food Notes from an American Prison

Bird’s Eye View of United States Penitentiary Lewisburg, PA

One of the things I found most interesting about the previous episode, Cooking in Maximum Security was that prisoners in Italy not only cooked pretty elaborate meals, but that it was their right to do so. The ability to make at least some food for themselves seems to be taken for granted among prisoners in Italy. Not so in the United States, where Hollywood has made us all aware both that food is often the spark that ignites a riot and that some prisoners can get away with cooking much more elaborate meals. It surprised Edward Hasbrouck too, who shared memories of his brief time in a federal prison with a friend we have in common. He agreed to talk to me about his experiences of food in prisons gained at Lewisburg Federal Prison in the early 1980s, long before ramen became the bedrock of prison food systems.

Notes

1. Edward Hasbrouck’s main website contains loads of information about travel and more besides. The non-profit he mentioned is Papers, Please! – The Identity Project.
2. I’m grateful to Peter Rukavina, who shared a link to Matteo Guidi’s episode, which is how Edward Hasbrouck found it and where he commented.
3. Here is the transcript.
4. Banner photo from an old postcard of Lewisburg Penitentiary.

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