Activist Book Launch: Eating Behind Bars

Food is love. Food is culture. Food is power. But in our nation’s jails and prisons, food is punishment.

Join Impact Justice’s Aishatu Yusuf and food justice leaders for an unflinching conversation about Eating Behind Bars: Ending the Hidden Punishment of Food in Pr*son — the groundbreaking new book from Impact Justice called “eye-opening” by Chef José Andrés.

Discover how America’s prisons became hidden food deserts — and how reimagining what’s on the plate can become a recipe for justice, dignity, and change.

About the participants:

Dr. Aishatu R. Yusuf is a recognized change-maker with expertise in the systemic barriers that keep individuals and communities from reaching their potential. As Vice President of Innovation Programs at Impact Justice, she oversees a portfolio of transformational projects that tackle complex social problems from an intersectional perspective. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband and dog, Aiko.

About the book:

A vivid exploration of the food crisis affecting millions of incarcerated Americans, Eating Behind Bars sheds new light on the power—and peril—of what’s on our plates.

“This eye-opening book will convince you that everyone—absolutely everyone—is deserving of nourishing food that affirms their humanity and dignity.”—José Andrés, chef and humanitarian

Prisons and jails are America’s hidden “food deserts,” where hunger and malnourishment coexist with shocking levels of food waste because much of what is served is so awful it ends up in the trash. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are tense and humiliating when incarcerated people are forced to eat in silence, finish meals within minutes, and disciplined with food deliberately worse than the standard fare.

This disturbing portrait came to light in 2020 when the nonprofit Impact Justice released the first-ever national examination of food in Pr*son, catapulting the issue from the margins of Pr*son litigation to the center of national conversations about mass incarceration and food justice. This landmark book digs deeper, revealing a systemic drive to cut costs at the expense of health and decency. It is also a story of resistance and hope, chronicling how incarcerated people and their allies are fighting back, as well as exploring “farm to tray” programs, chef-led initiatives, and other ways to make food in Pr*son a source of healing and bring dignity back to the table.

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