Years ago, "sheriff Joe" Arpio decided it would be a great idea to change to an all vegetarian diet for the inmates of the MCSO jails. This change meant saving a lot of money and also made things easier by covering mostly all diet requirements with one dish. The "stew" as he calls it (we called it slop) consists of milk, soy chips, carrots, potatoes, water, and flour. It does not have any salt and tastes like watery cardboard. This is the second out of two meals a day you get at MCSO. At least it's (usually) hot. On the tray, we got slop, either mixed veggies, more carrots, or potatoes, a piece of fruit (mostly apples or oranges depending on what's in season, but in my stay we had blueberries, watermelon, and dates on VERY rare occasions) a wheat bread roll with a sliver of butter substitute, and a pack of state cookies.
There are items on the commisary that can greatly enhance the slop like packets of squeeze cheese, pickle juice (from the pickle packs), cheecharones (pork rinds), flavored pretzels, and you can even buy condiment packs which contain salt, pepper, mayo, ketchup, and mustard. I say these items "greatly enhance" the slop but that really means it just makes it palatable.
There were about 3 times in my stay there that the slop had salt in it, and we thought that was an inmate in cook chill (the job where you make the slop) going out on a limb and taking a huge risk. We were grateful.
Today I am grateful for the ability to eat anything I want for dinner. I'm grateful that I don't call it "chow" and that I have access to a vast multitude of seasonings. I'm grateful that I don't have to eat watery cardboard anymore.
Comments