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Polk Sheriff Saves Thousands By Leaning On Jail Menu

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

Lunch-meat sandwiches replace peanut butter and jelly as the Polk County Jail looks to reduce the cost of feeding inmates.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 9, 2008

Updated: 07/09/2008 03:47 pm

TAMPA - Polk County Jail inmates no longer have the option of drinking chocolate milk, fresh milk, coffee, tea or juice.

They'll get water or nonfat dry milk.

Polk's inmates won't be munching on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, either.

They will have the option of eating meat sandwiches instead.

The menu changes will save about $160,000 a year, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

"If you want to eat peanut butter and jelly and drink juice and caffeinated drinks, fine, stay out of jail," Sheriff Grady Judd said.

He said a dietitian was consulted about menu changes and approved them.

"This is just our way of communicating with the taxpayers that we're saving every penny we can," he said. "We're going to ensure that their meal is nutritious, but it doesn't necessarily have to be delicious."

The Florida Sheriff's Association's Florida Model Jail Standards mandate that jails must serve nutritious, wholesome meals three times a day, sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said. The American Dietetic Association recommends a daily allowance of 2,300 to 2,800 calories a day.

The jail continues to offer three daily meals, and the food provided is about 2,650 calories a day.

Serving just water and nonfat dry milk will save $67,175 a year, deputies say.

Serving meat sandwiches instead of peanut butter and jelly will save $11,076 a year.

Judd said there won't be a specific type of meat served – just whatever's cheapest that day.

"It's very, very, very thin meat," Rodgers said. "Peanut butter is very expensive. Have you ever bought peanut butter? … With the meat, you hold it up and you can almost see through it."

Other changes:

Three packs of crackers a week instead of cornbread three times a week; $33,304 saved.

One slice of bread for breakfast daily instead of two; $25,116 saved.

One egg patty a week instead of two fresh eggs; $24,545 saved.

Pasco County inmates also have faced food cutbacks in recent years, including not receiving free coffee, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said. This fiscal year, which began in October, Pasco inmates no longer receive free sugar.

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Bordner said his county has a food service contract that has locked in the cost on inmate meals and that Pinellas has no planned menu changes to save money on food.

Pinellas recently stopped providing inmates salt and pepper packets on food trays. That decision, however, came because the spices could have been used as a weapon and because the packets had been clogging dishwashing equipment, Bordner said.

He said he doesn't know that his county would ever cut corners on nutrition. "There are some moral and legal issues that need to be taken into account."

Said Judd: "The reason they're behind bars is because they misbehaved. They may not have been convicted … beyond a reasonable doubt, but certainly their conduct landed them in jail."

Hillsborough County has a food service contract that locks in its current menu, so no immediate changes are possible, Col. David Parrish said. The contract expires in September 2009.

Through a dramatic reduction of Hillsborough County inmates in recent years, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been saved, he said. On average, there are about 800 fewer people behind bars than in 2005.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

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