Episode 11: Food services

Kirstan: Have you ever wondered what meal time looks like in one of Canada's federal prisons? Well, that's exactly what we'll explore in today's episode. You'll discover what food is really like, and also how meals are prepared and distributed to thousands of inmates across Canada each and every day. I'm your host, Kirstan Gagnon. Welcome to another episode of Prisons Inside Out.

Kirstan: Food plays an essential role in correctional institutions. A nutritious diet doesn't just impact physical health. It's key to rehabilitation, and it supports mental and spiritual well-being as well. In a federal prison, delivering healthy meals is integral to the Correctional Service of Canada's mission of maintaining health and safety for everyone in its institutions. But feeding thousands of people in such a controlled environment requires careful planning and coordination on a massive scale.

Kirstan: Just how massive? Well, each day, CSC's Food Services team is responsible for feeding nearly 14,000 inmates across the country. To find out how they do it, our team visited Drumheller Institution in Alberta, where we got a behind the scenes look at the kitchens, cafeterias and the food distribution process.

Rakesh: "You know, they would come here. So we have around half an hour to eat. Okay. So they will come in..."

Kirstan: That's the voice of Rakesh, Drumheller's Chief of Food Services. Rakesh gave us a guided tour of the cafeteria and kitchen, where his team was busy preparing for the lunchtime rush.

Kirstan: Our first stop was the cafeteria where the majority of inmates eat their meals. The cafeteria looked similar to one you'd find in a big high school. The room was large with floor to ceiling windows. There were several tables lining the floor, each with a certain number of seeds attached to them. There are metal windows there that open from inside the kitchen where staff can serve the food, and this is for safety reasons. Here's Rakesh explaining what a typical meal time looks like.

Rakesh: "Here we will have the CSC staff, uh, correctional officer will be standing over on that side..."

Kirstan: "Watching."

Rakesh: If they have any issue or they have somebody have with a disagreement, we will kind of kind of rectify that issue.

Kirstan: Okay.

Rakesh: So here also to assist. But for them also it's hard for them to control 100 guys at a time because they only like four staff members here and they have already made. So it's not an easy job.

Kirstan: In Canada's federal prisons, meals are distributed using two main models. The first is the Central Kitchen's Model, which prepares and serves meals to inmates based on CSC's national menu. Medium and maximum security prisons like Drumheller primarily used this system. Within the Central Kitchen Model, food is served in one of three ways. The first is cafeteria feeding, which Rakesh's team was preparing for during our visit.

Kirstan: The second is range feeding, used in prisons without cafeterias. The third is tray feeding or satellite service, where individual meal trays are directly served to cells. Here's Rakesh explaining that.

Rakesh: And then unit 31 which is satellite service. What that means satellite service. They get they will receive the tray, individual tray fully loaded as per the menu directly to them to the cell. That's what you saw when you came. Right now you saw two main card. Those two meal card is heading right now for lunch. It's heading to unit 31.

Kirstan: In minimum security institutions, inmates mostly prepare their own meals using raw ingredients provided from national or institutional grocery lists. This system is called the small Group Meal Planning program. Meal planning is all part of an inmate's rehabilitation process and preparation for a successful and safe transition into the community. Our next stop was the kitchen, where Rakesh's team was hard at work. Drumheller operates the finishing kitchen, which combines prepared products from regional food production centres with items made in-house.

Kirstan: Each region has its own food production centre. In the centres, CSC employees and inmates who are working prepare items from the national menu, such as soups, sauce and meats using a cook-chill system. These items are then distributed weekly to finishing kitchens at nearby institutions across the region. In institutions too far from a Regional Food Production Centre. All cooking is done in-house. Rakesh explains more about the differences between these two systems during our interview. Here's our full conversation.

Kirstan: So we're here at Drumheller Institution in Alberta, and I'm here with Rakesh Kalupnath, who's the chief of Food services for Drumheller Institution. And thank you so much for that wonderful tour of your work. And we got to meet some of your staff and learn how you serve inmates food throughout the day. So tell me a bit about your role.

Rakesh: I'm the Chief of Food Services, so I have been working for Drumheller Institution for almost 15 years now. Prior to that, I used to work in a cruise line. Uh, but when I moved to Alberta, it was not easy myself to find a really good job with a good security. So I find working with CSC is one of the best avenues, so I really enjoy my work. I have a good team of staff.

Rakesh: Um, it's challenging, but we we try to go through every day with a positive attitude and just do the best of it. Mhm.

Kirstan: That's what I struck me about you

Rakesh:. You seemed so positive and and also really calm. And I guess that's an asset working in this environment.

Rakesh: Well you know you're right at the very beginning when I started it was not easy. The first six months was really frustrated as me as a food service staff, I have working all my life in food services and come here at the institution. And when you have inmate worker to have, um, you don't have inmate worker, which is qualified to do the job.

Kirstan: But that turns that turns around, I guess, somewhat, when you do get a few inmates who want to work in the kitchen, you have to invest quite a bit of time and effort into the training and mentorship and making sure they follow the food safety standards as well.

Rakesh: Absolutely. This is fundamental. This is the most not so difficult, but this is the most hard part of the duty because you have to make sure you're giving them life and you're giving them to deal with, uh uh, ready to eat food. You have to make sure that they wash their hand. They use gloves. And especially when we're serving diet meal, they don't do any cross-contamination that you have for regular meal. You have one set of cutleries, serving utensils, and they're not mixing it.

Rakesh: And you have to really teach them that because, um, I give an example. Let's say you see that meal where we're serving this morning and on a pork day you still have you have to serve the halal person. You have to make sure there's no cross-contamination. They still have to understand the dynamic of that jury and that part of responsibility.

Kirstan: And I know our listeners might be wondering because you mentioned knives, and sometimes we have individuals inside prison who may not be, um, you know, as safe around knives. So how do we make sure that no incidents occur?

Rakesh: Uh, so the way we do it is we have a sign out and sign out and sign in sheet. So every inmate who we will give the knife to use, uh, the food service officer will have to get his name signed. The name. And we know what specific duty he's doing for the day. We'll have a sheet, document everything. And before we serve the meal line or the knife will be locked in a safe cage. So basically, what I'm going to say, let's say after breakfast is 830.

Rakesh: All is clear after 830. That's where the time we're going to issue the knife. Only when is required for a knife duty. Uh, let's say we know now noon will be lunchtime, and 11:00 is the count time that we do the physical count. So when we do the physical count, we also gathered all the knife. We make sure that we're not missing anything. We don't have lots of knife. We only have two knife in the kitchen. Okay. So for us to only have two knife is better control.

Kirstan: They're all accounted for and it's monitored and and controlled. So it's not like somebody taking a knife back to their cell. It's not like that. It's a very structured.

Rakesh: It's very structured. We also have like a a tag on the knife. We will have uh implement on the knife will write like be 13. So even they take the knives, they go somewhere. If somebody catch it will know which inmate was working on that knife for that day.

Kirstan: Okay. And I guess we talked about it a bit earlier, but there's an incentive for the inmates to do well and to to do their job in a responsible way, um, because they could have serious consequences to not following the rules. And they wanted me to be able to, um, to be on the right path, I guess, to their rehabilitation so that they can, um, maybe, um, eventually, if appropriate, make it to minimum or or out potentially in the future. So I think they have a stake in making sure they follow the rules as well.

Rakesh: Absolutely, absolutely. And uh, if they do something they know they will be getting not punished, but there will be repercussion for every, every mistake they do. All right. So, uh.

Kirstan: Yeah. And one of the things, um, about about food, when I visit different institutions or speak to inmates, I noticed that food is often number one on their mind because it's one of those things you can control what you eat when you when you're incarcerated. There's so much you can't control. And, um, I really noticed the importance of food to the rehabilitation of inmates because it really it almost starts there. If you have healthy food, you're less likely to get agitated or get into incidents. You're also less likely to have health issues later on. Right? So talk to me a bit about that.

Rakesh: What I do myself to make sure that this, uh, occurred on a daily basis, we make sure that we follow the menu 100%. Me, the way I ordered the food. I make sure that there's no deviation on the menu. If the menu specifies breakfast, what they have to get, that is exactly what they're going to get. And for lunch time to we can't make any mistake. We make sure that when they come everybody is fed appropriately. We cannot have when an inmate is coming to eat for lunch. He knows he has burger on the menu or chicken leg on the menu. We have to make sure that every one of them is fed equally. We cannot say on the last minute, hey, I ran out of chicken leg. Can I give you a piece of leftover? That cannot happen.

Kirstan: So you really make sure that you calculate everything is calculated in terms of nutrients. According to the Canada Food Guide. Absolutely. And every man at an institution will have a daily calorie intake. Correct? Um, that you must meet as a food expert. Really? And you walked us through the kitchen and, um, so I noticed that there's little brown trays, kind of like I had when I went to elementary and high school with different little compartments.

Kirstan: And the, um, the inmates will line up in single line fashion, and there's a wall with a wind windows and a little, uh, little doorway, if you will. That opens and shuts and the trays will come out for each inmate served by your staff in the food food services section. And so every inmate will get their meal and then go sit down and eat it. And there are a few stations at the back of the room where they could get milk or, um, coffee.

Rakesh: Yeah.

Kirstan: Um, and serve themselves for that. And then they have the half hour for lunch. Correct. So when you're in prison routines important it's important to the inmates. They need to know what to expect, when to expect it. It keeps them organized and focused.

Rakesh: Right. You're absolutely right. If we don't have routine, we don't have, uh, strategic plan and structured things in place. It's going to be really hectic. Like, I give you an example for myself, no matter what, if I have four staff working for breakfast, I have to be ready at 730. This is the breakfast time. Mhm. Um, the rest of the population doesn't, uh, don't have to worry because breakfast, they know breakfast will be ready. If I am short staffed that is my problem. I have to make sure that the breakfast is ready at 730. Uh, food services work on a time constraint. Everything is set to a time. Breakfast 730. Lunch noon. Supper 430.

Kirstan: So I noticed today for breakfast there was oatmeal on the on the menu. Correct. So, um, can you describe for me a bit how that would look in the tray?

Rakesh: Oh, we will have dry oatmeal in the morning. We will just cook them with boiling water. And we will have some dish up in individually in each trays.

Kirstan: And then for lunch was um, actually lunch is, uh, just, uh, coming up soon. Now, please. Soon. Yeah. Um, so I noticed when you walked us through the kitchen, we could see mushroom soup, mushroom soup.

Rakesh: Chicken wiener, hot dog bun, condiments, spray, mixed salad. And it's a good meal today. Yeah.

Kirstan: And we saw one of the inmates cutting up all the the salad and mixing in the appropriate vegetables. And you all have that predetermined in advance so they know exactly what they're doing.

Rakesh: Yes. Uh, we will have like a, we have a sheet that they have to follow. We everything has been listed. And what they have to follow, like a recipe book like spring mixed salad. What has to go in that and what's dressing we have to serve is very systematic. So everything has been done like, uh, on a every 28 days. Is it the same? So, uh, my staff will have zero room to make any error every 28 days. The same. Okay. So it's not like in a restaurant you have a meal, tickets and customers coming, and then they decide to give me a chicken parmesan or steak.

Rakesh: No, it's not like that. Like that. It's pretty straightforward. So it's very, very less room to make mistake. It's very straightforward.

Kirstan: And our goal is to make sure they get the allotted number of calories and a balance of good food. But again, it's not fine dining. It's prison. Right.

Rakesh: So we we still. Make it very I know it's prison. Everybody has that thing in their mind that it's prison. But in my opinion they eat really well.

Kirstan: And you talked about your staff being really hard working and uh, you talked a bit about the structure as well. And so, um, I noticed that some of your staff were working with the inmates very closely to kind of coach and mentor them. Uh, what goes into, um, kind of leading the way for the, for the inmates in terms of, uh, leading by example, but showing them the ropes behind in the kitchen and, uh, how to do the, the job so they gain some skills. So maybe they do this on the outside one day. Who knows.

Rakesh: Yeah. You're right. Who knows? Actually, we do our best to train them. We do our best. We give them the best coaching and, uh, knife skill, uh, food safety skill. But we do get good response. We do get bad response, too. So it's a it's a jail. You have to spec on both sides. So, uh, some of the inmate will be very receptive for your direction, but some of the inmates will not be that receptive to our direction. All my kitchen worker work for me. We do give them kind of a incentive.

Rakesh: For example, today, my kitchen worker, if they're working, my staff will not be mine to give them two yogurt. You know, it's like it's a small incentive for them to work for me. So.

Kirstan: And you need people.

Rakesh: Absolutely.

Kirstan: Yeah. So you want to make it appealing so more people apply for that work, especially uh.

Rakesh: If during winter time, who will wake up at 630 to come to work. So they have to wake up around five, let's say 6:00. Even to have a shower. Brush your teeth, get ready with clean uniform because they will have to wear a uniform to come. They cannot just get out of the bed and just come to work.

Kirstan: So keep the kitchen clean.

Rakesh: Absolutely.

Kirstan: It's great. And so we talked a lot about the medium side of the institution. But you also run the minimum side correct. Where you have over 100 inmates there.

Rakesh: 122. Yeah.

Kirstan: And the inmates in a in a minimum. It's a bit different in the sense that part of the, the whole philosophy is to help them become more responsible, organized budgeting, etc., so that they're more ready for life, potentially on the outside if they if they're released. So can you talk to me a bit about that?

Rakesh: Yes. So what we do is for the minimum institution is like a mini grocery store. We give them the chance to buy the grocery on their own. I have to make sure that when they buy something, they buy something, which is. they're going to be able to eat for breakfast, for lunch and for supper because the, uh, the me, the opportunity they have to to get the grocery in minimum is I don't want them to just to buy protein item like salmon chicken breast.

Rakesh: I want also for them to get something like a, uh, nutritious item like oatmeal, cream of wheat bread item, dairy item, fruit item, vegetable item. So we try to encourage that. But, uh, and also most of the inmates will be living like in a house unique of eight offender or nine offender. But I have also seen them like make a group eating as a group, they will share and they will cook together and also they it's also a good education for them because they are able to know how to budget themselves, what they need to buy, how they need to buy, and we provide them recipe as well.

Rakesh: We which provides a recipe book for short order cooking. Uh, let's say all the food safety steps to cook a chicken breast or cooking a ground beef. Uh, for example, um, if the cooking ground beef, they have to make sure that the internal temperature, um, requirement, we all have this on the list and it's been posted in their house that they can say, okay, I'm cooking a potential hazard food.

Rakesh: I have to make sure that they have thermal meters to check their food so it is safe for them to eat.

Kirstan: That's great.

Rakesh: Yeah.

Kirstan: So is there anything else you want our listeners to know about the work you do and, uh, the work of your team?

Rakesh: I will say that when somebody is working for an institution, I don't want them to feel that, oh, working with and made is not a good job. It is. It's just you have to make sure that when you're working with an inmate, you know, your barrier, you know your limitation, and you make sure that you follow the rules and regulations and protocol for CSC. If you can do that, you will be absolutely fine.

Kirstan: Great. Well, thank you so much for all the time you spent with us today.

Rakesh: It was a pleasure.

Kirstan: After wrapping up our interview, Rakesh brought out a tray identical to the one served to hundreds of inmates earlier that day. It was a time for me to answer the big question what does the food taste like?

Kirstan: So I'm opening up a soup that was provided to me by Rakesh Uh, for me to do a little taste test of the food menu for this lunch hour. So I'm going to test taste the soup if I can get it open.

Kirstan: Well. Not too bad. Not very salty. I know that a lot of inmates may have some dietary restrictions, so they tend to not make things too salty. And then salt could always be added if if it's provided. I'm going to taste test the the lentil salad because I do like my food on the healthier side. So I'm going to try this. Mm. This is quite good. It's pretty tasty and very healthy. It has lentils. Looks like some green onion maybe some celery. Anyway, good way to hide different types of vegetables in there.

Kirstan: A big thank you to Rakesh and the staff at Drumheller Institution for welcoming us so warmly and providing such valuable insights. A special thanks as well to CSC's Food services team for their vital work in supporting the health and wellbeing of inmates across the country.

Kirstan: This has been a production of the Correctional Service of Canada and I'm your host, Kirstan Gagnon. Thanks for listening.