SOME IDOC PRISONERS FACING EGG-LESS BREAKFASTS FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE

As the price of eggs and other food continues to climb, the IDOC has decided to cut eggs from the common fare menu altogether.

In a case filed in the United States District Court in 2017, (Bartlett v. Atencio, Case No. 1:17-cv-00191), the IDOC agreed to provide frozen kosher, unopened (double packaged) meals (known as Common Fare) to prisoners who request them. Since the first day they were served, IDOC staff have done everything they can to dissuade prisoners from signing up to receive the common fare meals, including (but certainly not limited to) purchasing the lowest quality and least popular meals available on the market. This has to do primarily with the cost of the meals, which is in excess of five times the cost of a traditional in-house (mainline) meal.

The Monday, Wednesday and Friday common fare breakfast meals consist of a half cup of scrambled eggs and half a cup potatoes (mixed), a cup of diced, cooked carrots, cereal, and a half pint of milk. Sunday, Tuesday and Friday breakfast meals consist of a half cup of scrambled eggs, two small pancakes (with syrup), cereal, and a half pint of milk. According to an email received by IDOC prisoners on January 20, 2023 from an undisclosed author (reproduced in its entirety below) this will soon change.

Whether the change from eggs to beans in the common fare breakfasts is due to avian flu as described in the email, an attempt to dissuade prisoners from requesting common fare diets (especially with specialty Passover meals coming in soon which are even more expensive than regular common fare meals) or just good 'ole economics (beans are cheaper than eggs) is unclear. What is clear however is that where such changes go unchallenged or at least unobserved, worse changes are bound to creep in.

Here is the email as received on January 20, 2023:

"Avian Flu Affecting IDOC Menus

As you may have heard, we are still in the middle of one of the worst avian flu pandemics on record, with nearly 60 million poultry birds lost in the USA. As a result, the egg supply is very unreliable, and we are regularly seeing shortages from our vendors. For menus prepared in-house, you may see substitutions for eggs (when we don't receive the amount of product necessary to prepare the menu as written).

For common fare participants, the egg meals have been replaced with bean meals. The changeover provides a similar calorie and protein profile as the egg meals.

Thank you for your patience with this issue that is beyond our control."