Sheriff Vicky Hennessy wants to explore the possibility of bringing a more farm-to-table culinary situation to San Francisco's jails. "It would be locally sourced food, the kind I like to eat," Hennessy tells the San Francisco Examiner.
That's right. When the city's $3 million contract with jail food provider Aramark ends next year, Hennessy wants to switch up the menu. Reports the Examiner, "Hennessy hopes at least a pilot program can be started by modeling the jail after San Francisco Unified School District efforts that use local food to feed students through the the Good Food Purchasing Program."
Meal upgrade may be on the menu at #SF County Jail, via @jonahowenlamb https://t.co/mmwN8IjHte pic.twitter.com/44HnnSaXBA
— SF Examiner (@sfexaminer) July 17, 2017
The Center for Good Food Purchasing's program involves analyzing how existing jail food is purchased and finding ways to incorporate locally produced and sustainable food into the inmates' meals. Plus, the program is a proponent of worker's rights and humane animal treatment. It's all very Alice Waters.
"When you get a group of men, and they don't like the food and they rebel against the food, that's a problem. We have to make sure that's one less thing the deputies ... have to worry about," explained Aramark's Vincent Mitchell to the Examiner. It's unclear if the new plan would include keeping Aramark on board or finding another institutional caterer to manage the inmates' "three hots."
There's no official plan in place to begin bringing the Good Food Purchasing Program into the city's jails. It's simply something Hennessy thinks is a good idea. "It's always been somewhat bland," said Hennessy of SF's jail food.
The Examiner's Jonah Owen Lamb reviewed a meal at the San Francisco County Jail as part of his research, and he gives Taco Night three out of five stars.
Related: Yelp Reviews Of The County Jail Are The Only Yelp Reviews We Trust