If you're a prisoner in the Vermont corrections system and you misbehave, you're likely to find something unappetizing at the next mealtime -- "nutraloaf," a mixture of cubed whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk and dehydrated potato flakes. Mmmmm!
The state says it's a meal, but prisoners disagree. They say it's a punishment, and therefore it should be subject to the prison disciplinary process. They're suing the state to make sure that the next time they're served nutraloaf, it's only after due process and a disciplinary hearing.
This is only the latest legal battle over meals like this. Says the AP:
Nutraloaf and its equivalents have been used for decades in prisons across the country. In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a concoction used in Arkansas known as "'grue' might be tolerable for a few days and intolerably cruel for weeks or months."
A federal judge ruled in 1988 that the use of nutraloaf by the Michigan Department of Corrections was punishment.
Now, Michigan inmates are only given nutraloaf after going through the disciplinary process that lands them in segregation, department spokesman Russ Marlan said.
Photo source: AP
Zach Patton -- Executive Editor. Zach has written about a range of topics, including social policy issues and urban planning and design. Originally from Tennessee, he joined GOVERNING as a staff writer in 2004. He received the 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award for Outstanding Journalism
E-mail: zpatton@governing.com 
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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