Prison Loaf
Maryland Lockup Uses Horrid Bread Dish as Disciplinary Tool

April 6, 2002 -- How do you handle a hungry con? If he ain't misbehavin', regular old, godawful prison food will do. But if he's been bad, and if he happens to be a resident of Baltimore's Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center, he might be stuck eating what the prison calls a "special management meal," and what the inmates call…. Well, this is a family public radio network.

Scott Simon prepares to sample the loaf. Photo: Andy Lyman, NPR

Let's just say the inmates don't like "prison loaf." And that's the whole idea. It's all part of a wider effort to "discourage negative inmate behavior," Warden Thomas Corcoran tells Scott Simon on Weekend Edition Saturday.

Sort of a carrot-and stick approach to corrections, then. Except that the carrots in this case are finely grated and mixed with wheat bread, fake cheese, spinach, beans, raisins and other ingredients to create what Simon concludes "smells a little bit like the food they serve in the elephant cage at the National Zoo."

But how does it taste? "Blander than bland," declares Simon, who bravely samples the product on the air.

'Special management meal' Photo: Andy Lyman, NPR

Inmates sentenced to loaf-consumption are served the horrible stuff three times a day for about a week (each loaf weighs a pound). If they keep their noses clean, they can then go back to the relative culinary delights of regular prison fare. If not, it's back to the loaf, which Corcoran says adheres to all nutritional guidelines, and even meets the needs of most special diets.

Does it work? Corcoran says that in the two years since the prison's behavior-modification program -- including the loaf -- was instituted, the incidence of inmate assaults on prison staff has been cut in half. "The proof is in the loaf," he says.

If you want to judge for yourself, here's the recipe:


Special Management Meal
Yield - Three Loaves

• 6 slices whole wheat bread, finely chopped
• 4 ounces imitation cheddar cheese, finely grated
• 4 ounces raw carrots, finely grated
• 12 ounces spinach, canned, drained
• 2 cups dried Great Northern Beans, soaked,
cooked and drained
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 ounces potato flakes, dehydrated
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 8 ounces powdered skim milk
• 4 ounces raisins

Mix all ingredients in a 12-quart mixing bowl. Make sure all wet items are drained. Mix until stiff, just moist enough to spread. Form three loaves in glazed bread pans. Place loaf pans in the oven on a sheet pan filled with water, to keep the bottom of the loaves from burning. Bake at 325 degrees in a convection oven for approximately 45 minutes. The loaf will start to pull away from the sides of the bread pan when done.

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