(In the years we’ve been reporting on the prison food, this isn’t the first time this quote has been documented. We hoped the new vendor, Aramark, would not be sexist, but we were wrong. One of the reasons we think this doesn’t change is Aramark hired the same Trinity workers and just gave them a blue shirt to wear. Same attitude, a different color shirt. Many reliable sources were interviewed for this story, and we have the real names of Aramark (Trinity retreads) employees, but we’ll just use initials.–Ed.)

COMPLEX KITCHEN- Perryville: There are 3 Trinity retreads, R, C, and S. Ms. R. reportedly has been working there for 26 years. Complex kitchen also feeds a men’s prison and all Perryville units. These supervisors have repeatedly told the female inmate workers to ” keep the men’s menu exactly as written, cuz they’ll get mad if it isn’t.” “Just give the women the leftovers.” When the gals ask why this is, all 3 supervisors say, “Because that’s the way it’s always been.” Recently the kitchen ran out of sweet potatoes, which were on the menu for both genders, and indeed the men all got sweet potatoes. What did Perryville get? Mashed up, dehydrated regular potato slices from breakfast, in a cold lumpy paste! Supervisor C. said, “The women will take whatever and no one cares.”

Inmate workers all agree Aramark has superior fresher ingredients than Trinity. They were also impressed that Aramark prepared food only one day in advance, versus Trinity’s three-day prep which tended to spoil. Workers appreciated the little things, like butter instead of water in baked goods. Apparently, Aramark requires a full “state issue” serving, so that’s good too.

Now brace yourself. Our sources are terrified of what will happen when the REAL Aramark employees go home. What? Since the transfer of Trinity to Aramark, full-time Aramark employees from back east were staying in hotels, and supervising everything from food service to hiring people. (retreads) In a few short weeks, they are all flying home! That leaves Perryville in the clutches of Trinity’s failure team and bad habits. There are guardrails on the retreads now, what will happen to the food when Aramark supervisors leave? We’ll be keeping our eye on it, and reporting back to our readers.