Programming Statement Myth: Am I Entitled To Hot Meals?
Programming statements are essentially the bylaws which state how the prison system is supposed to work.
In this post, we’re going to focus on some things that inmates have been led to believe are in programming statements, but in fact, are not.
The first is that an inmate in federal prison is entitled to some specific number of hot meals.
While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has mandated that an inmate in federal prison must have access to 2,000 calories a day, it is in fact not true that they must have one hot meal per day.
There’s no provision for hot meals per day in the federal prison system. If they have fed you three cold meals per day that totals 2,000 calories, according to the mandates they must follow, they’ve done their job.
The problem is that many federal prisons, as a means of punishment, or for budgetary or other reasons, don’t actually provide that full 2,000 calorie count.
If your inmate is being deprived of 2,000 calories per day, then they might have a reason to go to the Office of the Inspector General or the Department of Justice.
But, to summarize, it is unfortunately the case that the programming statement does not entitle inmates to any number of hot meals per day.