The Oklahoma Department of Corrections will spend about $74 million over two years to outsource its food service operations to the Trinity Services Group, a Florida-based company that feeds more than 300,000 prisoners and pretrial detainees daily.
The contract, which includes an initial two-year term and three one-year options to renew, allots Trinity just over $5 per prisoner, per day to cover food costs, staff wages and administrative support from a field office in Oklahoma City. Prisoners will receive hot meals for breakfast and dinner and a cold sack lunch.
Trinity expects to be operational in all state prisons by mid-December, with some facilities transitioning sooner as staffing levels and equipment maintenance allow. Department of Corrections spokesperson Kay Thompson said the agency anticipates saving money on the deal but did not specify how much.
The agency announced plans to outsource its food service and commissary operations during a January budget hearing at the Capitol, citing rising costs and subpar prisoner feedback on the state-run food service. Prison food experts and formerly incarcerated people criticized the decision, noting that poor food quality, unsanitary conditions and staff misconduct have plagued several states that privatized their prison food service.
Hunger strikes broke out across Michigan’s prison system in 2016 after Trinity took over. Officials in Cuyahoga County, Ohio dropped Trinity in November after detainees complained for years of being served maggot-infested and raw food.
“I have never seen an instance of a state switching from in-house to contracted food service where I’ve heard something positive about the results,” Leslie Soble, the senior manager of the Food in Prison Project at Impact Justice, told Oklahoma Watch in January.
Oklahoma is betting on monthly prisoner surveys to maintain high food quality. The contract calls for Trinity to maintain at least 90% satisfaction on food quality and preferences. If at least 20% of survey participants rate the food poorly for two consecutive weeks, the company would have to develop a corrective action plan.
The Department of Corrections is also mandating weekly reports on health and sanitation and a monthly report on staffing. The agency may impose additional restrictions if those reports or spot inspections reveal deficiencies.
Jessi Silverman is a registered dietitian and campaign manager for institutional food purchasing at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. She said the contract’s oversight terms are fairly standard, but the prisoner survey requirements are very stringent.
“I haven’t seen anything that’s this robust in terms of frequently surveying the incarcerated,” she said. “That seems really positive to me. I’m skeptical that the provision will be implemented to good effect, but I hope that it is.”
The contract’s nutritional and caloric standards are also typical, Silverman said, as most states defer to American Correctional Association standards. While vitamins and minerals are covered, recommendations for food groups like fruits, vegetables and whole grains are not.
“We recommend that all institutions align their menus with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which include food-based recommendations as well as limits on added sugar, which are not in the recommended daily allowances,” Silverman said. “When you’re using just the recommended daily allowances and not the dietary guidelines, it sort of leaves the loophole to be able to serve a nutrient-poor menu and supplement it with a fortified beverage.”
Trinity must submit a draft master menu to the Department of Corrections before taking over its kitchens. The meals must include 55% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 15% protein while being “balanced in color, flavor and texture.”
The Department of Corrections also agreed last month to outsource its commissary operations to the Keefe Group, which is under the same parent company as Trinity, TKC Holdings. The arrangement has been scrutinized by researchers who argue there’s an incentive for Trinity to serve bad food and drive up higher profit margin commissary sales.
While product availability may change some, prices won’t go up when the Keefe Group assumes operations, Thompson said. The contract calls for the Department of Corrections to receive a 20% commission from all sales. The agency plans to allocate that money towards inmate programs and services, as it has historically done with profits generated from its in-house commissary.
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
