TALLAHASSEE — Peanut butter, sardines and cabbage may be healthy options for some scrupulous dieters.
But Florida prison inmates whose kosher meals are comprised primarily of those three staples served cold seven days a week say the chow isn’t just nutritionally inadequate, it’s plain gross.
They contend that the peanut butter, sardines and cabbage served up daily by the Florida Department of Corrections are designed to discourage inmates from signing up for the kosher meals or to punish inmates if they do.
Critics say that the chow is far from what a federal judge had in mind last year when she ordered the state to start serving kosher meals to inmates.
Agency officials insist the revised kosher meal option — which until last month included items such as meatloaf, Salisbury steak and turkey cutlets — is a way for the cash-strapped prison system to cut costs while complying with the court order.