Fast Food Prison Nation
By Sonora Bostian-Posner
In his 2001 book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser shows two realities of the American food system: 1) it thrives on poor working conditions and unsafe, unsanitary animal agriculture in order to provide fast and cheap food for fast food restaurants, and 2) it’s such a pervasive system that even if one never sets foot in McDonald's, they’re likely still eating food from these conditions. We can now add another reality to that list: we’re likely eating food that was produced for a pittance by people in prison.
The AP recently shared an investigative journalism piece that shows the vast amount of prison labor that goes into our food supply, with brands affected ranging from McDonald’s to Whole Foods. The investigation revealed inhumane working conditions — many of which go against these companies’ policies for food production — and a system that on paper is voluntary, but leads to consequences for incarcerated people who refuse to do the work, ranging from longer sentences to physical punishment at the hands of correctional officers.
It is an open secret that many prisons put incarcerated people to work for low, and often no, wages; and in working conditions that violate several labor laws when applied to people not in prison. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” [emphasis mine] This exception leads to both the exploitation and mistreatment of incarcerated individuals for labor, including labor that produces our food.
Arguments have been made that this work teaches people in prison skills they can use once they get out; but it’s rare that these particular jobs lead to employment upon release — and even if they did, nothing would justify this cruelty.
It’s easy to read the AP’s investigation and think, I would never support this. The article shows, though, that if we’ve ever eaten food from a major restaurant or purchased it from a major grocery chain, we have supported this. It’s almost impossible to avoid it without starting our own farms and raising all of our own food.
What’s more realistic is to address this problem at the root: the prisons themselves, and the government bodies that oversee them. Prisons get away with this because we as a nation tend to look the other way when it comes to the way people in prison are treated. We can’t do that if we want this to change. Instead, we must demand that these practices be either banned or more regulated than they currently are. We must ask for more humane prison conditions, and for fair wages for work done by incarcerated people.
True criminal justice reform starts with treating people in prison like the humans they are, and ensuring their rights to safety and dignity are preserved even within prison walls.
Sonora Bostian-Posner is FAMM’s Director of Digital Communications.
