Working for National Offender Management Services as head of prison catering and physical education, Owen Sidaway oversees the catering in 120 prisons in England and Wales.
He is responsible for feeding nearly 86,000 prisoners every day, providing three meals, plus snacks and a minimum of four hot drinks on a budget of £2.02 a day per prisoner.
Currently, there are prisoners from 162 different countries in UK prisons, and the catering service recognises 18 different religious faiths that need to be factored into menus.
The major declared religions among prisoners are Catholic, Church of England, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Rastafarianism. Rastafarians request ital food, which is primarily vegetarian or vegan.
The catering operation serves 94 million meals a year and uses 850 full-time staff plus the services of 3,000 prisoners who work in the kitchens.
Sidaway said: “We’re under the radar. Who wants to know how good prison food is because there are no votes there? But we take a very professional approach because catering is our job and our passion.
“I count myself very fortunate to work in prison catering. It’s a great sector, and I’ve got the support of a very small team, plus all the other teams in the 120 prisons in England and Wales.
“My aim is to get the basics right. I want to make prison food great – it can still work for people, and be good and decent for them.”
Among the challenges he faces is to keep costs very tightly controlled.
“If we’re just 1p over budget per prisoner a day, it equates to a cost overspend of £314,000 a year,” he says.
Ultimately, he believes that prisoners deserve decent, tasty, nourishing food, and that it’s his role to make sure they get it.
“Well-served, well-prepared, nourishing and satisfying food are what we aim for. If anyone doubts the importance of food in prisons, and the effect of poor food on prisoners, then some years back, a cheese sandwich proved the catalyst for unrest in one prison that saw a prisoner die, 20 injured, staff hospitalised and £4.5 million of damage”
He said part of his role was educating prisoners, where needed, about good nutrition. “We need consumer knowledge to help the decision they make from multichoice pre-select menus.
“We need to help them also understand that it’s not just [about] nutrition, but it’s also a social experience and enhances the mealtime experience. We link our policy to the Eatwell Guide because I’ve not come across anything better.
“We have the benefit of being able to look at nutrition over the long term to get the balance right, with an average prison stay of more than 19 months.”
The prison service provided training for catering staff to intermediate or higher level in nutrition, and this had paid dividends.
“We invest in staff and staff training. Many prisons will spend locally on dietitians and have healthy eating certificates from local authorities, and I’m always glad to see them pinned up on the doors when I visit.”