The briefing brought together academics, former prisoners, third sector organisations and officials from bodies including HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS), HM Inspector of Prisons, and the Independent Monitoring Board to provide a much-needed review of the current state of prison food systems.
Victoria William, director of Food Matters, said: “Shifting our perspective to viewing food within prisons not just as a function, but as a focal point for improvements to prison regimes and prisoners’ lives. This approach sees food not as the stuff of riots, but as the stuff of reform – and highlights a pathway towards a more rehabilitative, healthy, and secure environment within the custodial system.”
The Clink Charity research has demonstrated that providing catering training for prisoners results in them being 49.6% less likely to reoffend. In prisons, Food Matters works directly with people serving sentences, as well as with staff working in catering, food procurement, education and health.
This includes delivering healthy eating materials through wellbeing newsletters, in-cell learning and workshops, cooking courses, practical toolkits, peer mentoring schemes and providing staff training sessions and consultancy to catering and food procurement services.
Charity Food Matters believes that healthy, sustainable, fair food should be available to everyone. The focus is on empowering individuals to make food choices which support their mental and physical health, and systems reform to ensure those food choices are possible.