U.S. jails and prisons use “The Loaf” to punish prisoners

For years jails and prisons have used bland, tasteless food as a way to punish bad behavior in prisoners. The food used to come in the form of bread and water, encouraging prisoners to remain well behaved if they wanted to earn meat and cheese, but in modern times the food comes in the form of “the loaf”.

“The loaf” isn’t bread, it’s a combination of whatever scraps that the prison or jail has lying around. While the recipe varies, the end result is still the same, a bland, tasteless loaf of crap that all prisoners despise. While it technically meets nutritional guidelines, it can’t really be considered food.

The loaf doesn’t taste bad, it doesn’t taste like anything, but it’s not eating the food that makes it such an effective punishment, it’s eating it every day, for every meal, for weeks at a time. Marcia Pelchat, a physiological psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, says that humans crave a variety of food. Eating the same tasteless food every day takes a toll.

While law enforcement claims the loaf isn’t as bad as people claim, human rights advocates say it’s unethical to use food as punishment in this way. Not only is eating the loaf for every meal a miserable experience, some prisoners will stop eating all together rather than consume it.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons claims it has never used the loaf in its facilities, but the loaf persists in other parts of the country. There is no guidance from the government on using the loaf or agencies or organizations are keeping track of where and how often it’s used.

A recent informal survey suggests that usage of the loaf is diminishing but still sees use in about 60% of the jails and prisons around the country.

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