<b>“</b>It's the Black Girls That Have the Most”: Foodways Narratives and the Construction of Race in a Women's Prison

Smoyer, Amy B.

doi:10.1080/07409710.2015.1102480

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Three prisons, one male maximum security, one male minimum security, and one female prison Prison-issued meals, prison shop Graaf and Kilty 2016 11 Canada 12 previously incarcerated women resident in a transition house Prison-issued meals, prison shop Godderis, 2006a ,12 , 2006b ,13 Canada 17 men across three prisons, two medium-security and one minimum-security Prison-issued meals Ifeonu et al, 2022 14 Canada 495 men and 92 women in four prisons Prison-issued meals, prison shop Kjaere Minke, 2014 15 Denmark 68 men in a maximum-security prison Self-cook Smoyer, 2019 17 Denmark 9 women across remand centre, closed prison and open prison Self-cook Ugelvik, 2011 17 Norway Unstated number men resident in two remand wings in one prison Prison-issued meals, prison shop Vanhouche, 2015 18 , 2018 19 Belgium and Netherlands 52 men transferred from a Belgian prison to a Dutch one, 17 prison staff and unstated number of medical and accounting staff, an imam, and a prison governor Prison-issued chilled ready meal access to microwave. prison shop Smoyer, 2013 20 , 2014 ,21 , 2015a ,22 , 2015b 23 , 2017 24 , 2017 25 USA 30 previously incarcerated women resident in a transition house Prison-is...…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food and the prison environment: a meta-ethnography of global first-hand experiences of food, meals and eating in custody

2023

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Background Prison foodways offer a unique opportunity to improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of an underserved population, yet prison food is often rejected in favour of ‘junk’ food. Improved understanding of the meanings of food in prison is necessary to inform prison food policy and enhance the prison environment. Results A meta-ethnographic synthesis of 27 papers integrated first-hand experiences of food in prison from 10 different countries. The lived experience for most in custody is of poor-quality prison-issued meals, necessarily consumed at a time and place at odds with socio-cultural norms. Beyond nutrition, food carries clear symbolic meanings in prison; through everyday food activities in prison, especially cooking, empowerment, participation, agency and identity are negotiated and performed. Cooking (with others or alone) can reduce anxiety and depression and increase feelings of self-efficacy and resilience in a socially, psychologically, and financially disadvantaged population. Integrating cooking and sharing food into the routine of prison life strengthens the skills and resources available to prisoners, empowering them as they move from the prison environment to the community. Conclusions The potential of food to enhance the prison environment and support improvements in prisoner health and wellbeing is limited when the nutritional content is inadequate and/or where food is served and eaten impacts negatively on human dignity. Prison policy which provides opportunities for cooking and sharing food that better reflects familial and cultural identity has the potential to improve relationships, increase self-esteem, build and maintain life skills needed for reintegration.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food and the prison environment: a meta-ethnography of global first-hand experiences of food, meals and eating in custody

2023

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“…The recipes are drawn from the ethnic backgrounds of the incarcerated individuals who prepare and eat these communal meals together. The inmates' creations look, smell, and taste different than standard prison food (Cate, 2008;Smoyer, 2015). Some U.S. prisons have farming and gardening programs within their compounds.…”

Section: Carceral Food Insecurity Carceral Food Justice and Carceral ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prisons, Jails, and the Environment: Why Environmentalists Should Care About Mass Incarceration?

Taylor

2023

American Behavioral Scientist

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This article examines the relationship between mass incarceration and environmental inequalities. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country, and incarceration is highly racialized. The article discusses how prisons are settler colonial ecosystems that produce injustice. Prisons are located close to hazardous sites and in areas prone to extreme weather events. Food insecurity is also commonplace in jails. The article introduces concepts such as carceral food justice and carceral food sovereignty to recognize the unique circumstances that inmates experience in their quest to acquire healthy, affordable, adequate, and culturally desirable food.

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“…Food in prison is a highly‐significant aspect of the punishment process (Einat and Davidian ; Gibson‐Light ; Godderis ; Higginbotham ; Jones ; Smoyer ; Smoyer and Lopes ; Ugelvik ; Vanhouche 2016). Experiences with food behind bars, whether in the cafeteria, at the commissary, ‘hustling’ or bartering ingredients, or while in‐cell cooking, wield influence upon relationships (de Graaf and Kilty ; Smoyer ), identity and performance (Earle and Phillips ; Godderis ; Minke ; Phillips ; Stearns ), status (Cate ; Smoyer ; Valentine and Longstaff ), and can be undertaken as symbolic resistance (de Graaf and Kilty ; Minke ; Smoyer ; Ugelvik ).…”

Section: Foodways Incarceration and Narrative Criminologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Food in prison is a highly-significant aspect of the punishment process (Einat and Davidian 2018;Gibson-Light 2018;Godderis 2006;Higginbotham 2010;Jones 2017;Smoyer 2016;Smoyer and Lopes 2017;Ugelvik 2011;Vanhouche 2016). Experiences with food behind bars, whether in the cafeteria, at the commissary, 'hustling' or bartering ingredients, or while incell cooking, wield influence upon relationships (de Graaf and Kilty 2016;Smoyer 2015), identity and performance (Earle and Phillips 2012;Godderis 2006;Minke 2014;Phillips 2012;Stearns 2019), status (Cate 2008;Smoyer 2016;Valentine and Longstaff 1998), and can be undertaken as symbolic resistance (de Graaf and Kilty 2016;Minke 2014;Smoyer 2015;Ugelvik 2011). Earle and Phillips (2012) and Phillips (2012) interrogate gender, race, and ethnicity inside the self-cook areas of a UK prison, revealing a complex, intersectional view of men frequently stereotyped as monolithic and hyper-masculinised.…”

Section: Foodways Incarceration and Narrative Criminologymentioning

confidence: 99%

More than Meals: A Narrative Criminological Analysis of Inmate‐Authored Cookbooks

Stearns

2020

Howard J Crime Justice

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Cookbooks are cultural artifacts, providing glimpses into the ways in which a society views itself. Cookbooks of incarcerated individuals are notably absent from the landscape of scholarly work, although the genre can tell us much about a largely invisible segment of society. Using a narrative criminology approach, this project situates inmate‐authored cookbooks as narrative and examines 13 inmate‐authored cookbooks to determine how the structural elements of these narratives establish (or fail to establish) links with wider, mainstream society. Results suggest that the majority of inmate‐authored cookbooks employ narrative structures and strategies that engage with outside society by challenging the nature of ‘otherness’. Only a few cookbooks utilise such strategies as inside humour or violent narratives to mark the boundaries of prison culture. Findings help to extend the theoretical usefulness of narrative criminology, broaden and deepen our understanding of the prison experience, and establish the prison cookbook as a valid form of narrative.

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“It's the Black Girls That Have the Most”: Foodways Narratives and the Construction of Race in a Women's Prison

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

Food and the prison environment: a meta-ethnography of global first-hand experiences of food, meals and eating in custody

Food and the prison environment: a meta-ethnography of global first-hand experiences of food, meals and eating in custody

Prisons, Jails, and the Environment: Why Environmentalists Should Care About Mass Incarceration?

More than Meals: A Narrative Criminological Analysis of Inmate‐Authored Cookbooks

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