Kitchen duty coveted post in county jail
WOODSTOCK – At the far end of the kitchen, one cook pours cake batter into baking pans, then loads them into tall racks. Nearby, another prepares sliced meat for sandwiches.
It looks like a typical restaurant kitchen, except that this is the McHenry County Jail, and all of the kitchen staff are inmates or detainees. They wear orange jumpsuits, and there’s a sheriff’s officer keeping watch.
Each meal served at the McHenry County Jail costs about $1.41, and every week, between 5,000 and 7,000 pounds of food are ordered to feed the fluctuating inmate population. But while jail is supposed to be a punishment, the food served to inmates shouldn’t be, said Dan Sedlock, chief of corrections.
“We’re certainly going to try to provide nutritional meals,” Sedlock said.
“For one, keep them healthy, and of course, keep them fit.”
Corn Flakes or Tastey-Os cereals are a typical breakfast, served with 1 percent milk. On Friday, the lunch menu included hot dogs, potatoes and coleslaw.
Compared with the cost of driving through a McDonald’s or even cooking at home, the $1.41 price tag on meals is inexpensive.
That price is based on a minimum population of more than 326 inmates, Department of Corrections business manager Angela Wood-Zuzevich said. Since Dec. 1, 2008, the jail has spent $453,824 on food.
Unlike the civilian world, labor costs at the jail kitchen also are low. Beyond a food service director, the kitchen is staffed with one other non-incarcerated employee, a sheriff’s officer, and 10 to 15 inmates and detainees.
The incarcerated employees are paid $1 a day, said Shawn King, food service director, and are rewarded for good work with double portions. In the realm of inmate jobs, a spot in the kitchen is highly coveted.
Other inmates can use money that they’ve earned from a job or were given by family members to buy treats, such as a candy bar, on Fridays.
“It was initially designed as a motivator to keep cellblocks clean,” King said. State standards require county jails to serve three meals a day, each of “sufficient nutritional value,” to provide a combined 1,800 to 2,000 calories.
McHenry County exceeds those minimum standards. Inmates are served three meals daily – two hot and one cold – that add up to an average 2,800 calories. The menu repeats itself every four weeks, and all meals are dietitian-approved.
Aramark, the same company that serviced the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, manages the kitchen and food service at the county jail. An Aramark employee orders ingredients and oversees food preparation.
Most of the food and other ingredients are supplied by Sysco, a popular restaurant and hotel supplier.
“This is the same stuff you get in the restaurant,” King said as he pointed to bagged salad. King also oversees food operations at the Boone County Jail.
Although the supplier and some ingredients used in jail meals – such as chicken – are the same as at upscale restaurants, inmates aren’t eating gourmet every night.
“It’s kind of like school lunch,” King said.
Accommodations are made for inmates whose religions or health conditions restrict their diets. Currently 30 inmates have special menus, including some who are vegetarian and others who require a high-protein diet.
The other inmates in the population – usually 480 to 500 people – are served identical meals.
“It’s pretty much paint by numbers,” King said. “If you set up a tray that has a bigger portion than another, that could start a fight.”
Even if portions are exactly the same and the food is the right temperature when it’s served, do inmates still complain?
“Of course they do,” Sedlock said. “They complain, ‘Not enough portions, too cold, blah, blah, blah.’ “
Jail administrators take accusations of uncooked or un-hearty meals seriously, so jail staff check temperatures and portions when complaints are made.
Dan Hofmann, a Woodstock criminal defense attorney, said a number of his clients have complained about portions or the taste of the food, but none has ever said it wasn’t nutritious or satisfying.
“No one’s happy about it, but no one has ever said, ‘Dan, sue the jail’ or ‘Write a letter to the jail administration complaining about the food,’ “ Hofmann said. “If it was that terrible, someone in the past 30 years would have.”