The LA Times has a long article on jail food. If the thought of doing time doesn't seem like a big deal to you, it might after you read this. County jails, where people go for more minor crimes, may be the worst, although maximum security is no picnic either.

One problem is the budget. California's county jails allot $2.25 per day per inmate. The state prison is $2.45 and the feds fork over $2.78).

Think about eating something that is made in batches for 17,000, as do the inmates in LA county jails.

[the] inmate crew stirred 100-gallon kettles of carrots and beans with paddles big enough to row a boat. Although it was late morning, the vegetables were for dinner, the jail's only hot meal.

....In the kitchen, inmate laborers washed the remains of instant mashed potatoes from bathtub-size kettles. Pans of the potatoes were stocked in walk-in "quick chill" refrigerators. Quick chilling allows the prison to start meals two days in advance. The food is cooked, then "blast cooled" in the refrigerators to within a few degrees of freezing. On serving day, it is reheated.

This reaction from an inmate doing life is probably typical:

"If I don't eat, I don't survive, but it's not like I look forward to it," he said. "After so many years you get immune to it. You just swallow."