SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Prisoners to Strike Against 'Prison Industrial Complex' and Food Giant Aramark
Aramark reaps in massive profits as a part of the "prison industrial complex," say protest organizers
Jan 09, 2017
Organizers of last year's prison strike are planning a new protest against Aramark, a massive for-profit food provider of both sports stadium fare and prison meals nationwide.
Aramark "provides meals for more than 500 correctional facilities across the country and has been the subject of complaints about maggots and rocks, sexual harassment, drug trafficking and other employee misconduct," noted PBS, which on Sunday first reported the latest planned protest.
Leaders of the Free Alabama Movement, the organizers behind September's nationwide prison strike that sought to draw attention to what they call modern-day slavery, are planning to march on January 14 in Washington, D.C. to protest the company.
Free Alabama Movement spokesman Pastor Kenneth Glasgow also told PBS that prisoners around the country will strike in solidarity with the protest--marking the second time they've gone on strike in the last six months.
As for how successful the protest will be, one prisoner commented to PBS that "I think many of us were surprised by the magnitude of and coordination exhibited by the prison strike last year, so it would not surprise me if this turned out to be quite widespread. Time will tell."
The organizers told PBS that Aramark was representative of the "prison industrial complex," that is, the number of private corporations that rely on incarcerating people to feed their profits.
"They are the biggest benefactors of prisoners," Glasgow observed.
"And they have a history of neglecting prisoners, serving bad food, not enough food, or undernourished food," Glasgow added. "[T]his is why we have chosen to boycott."
Journalist and author Chris Hedges explored Aramark's vast profits made on the backs of those incarcerated through the for-profit prison boom, writing in 2013:
Aramark [...] does what corporations are doing throughout the society: It lavishes campaign donations on pliable politicians, who in turn hand out state and federal contracts to political contributors, as well as write laws and regulations to benefit their corporate sponsors at the expense of the poor. Aramark fires unionized workers inside prisons and jails and replaces them with underpaid, nonunionized employees. And it makes sure the food is low enough in both quality and portion to produce huge profits.
Aramark, often contracted to provide food to prisoners at about a dollar a meal, is one of numerous corporations, from phone companies to construction firms, that have found our grotesque system of mass incarceration to be very profitable. The bodies of the poor, when they are not captive, are worth little to corporations. But bodies behind bars can each generate $40,000 to $50,000 a year for corporate coffers.
"It used to be that prison food was prepared and served by [government] employees, sometimes with prison workers assisting," David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project, told PBS. "This is part of the increasing privatization of prisons and ancillary services that we've seen over the past few decades."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Organizers of last year's prison strike are planning a new protest against Aramark, a massive for-profit food provider of both sports stadium fare and prison meals nationwide.
Aramark "provides meals for more than 500 correctional facilities across the country and has been the subject of complaints about maggots and rocks, sexual harassment, drug trafficking and other employee misconduct," noted PBS, which on Sunday first reported the latest planned protest.
Leaders of the Free Alabama Movement, the organizers behind September's nationwide prison strike that sought to draw attention to what they call modern-day slavery, are planning to march on January 14 in Washington, D.C. to protest the company.
Free Alabama Movement spokesman Pastor Kenneth Glasgow also told PBS that prisoners around the country will strike in solidarity with the protest--marking the second time they've gone on strike in the last six months.
As for how successful the protest will be, one prisoner commented to PBS that "I think many of us were surprised by the magnitude of and coordination exhibited by the prison strike last year, so it would not surprise me if this turned out to be quite widespread. Time will tell."
The organizers told PBS that Aramark was representative of the "prison industrial complex," that is, the number of private corporations that rely on incarcerating people to feed their profits.
"They are the biggest benefactors of prisoners," Glasgow observed.
"And they have a history of neglecting prisoners, serving bad food, not enough food, or undernourished food," Glasgow added. "[T]his is why we have chosen to boycott."
Journalist and author Chris Hedges explored Aramark's vast profits made on the backs of those incarcerated through the for-profit prison boom, writing in 2013:
Aramark [...] does what corporations are doing throughout the society: It lavishes campaign donations on pliable politicians, who in turn hand out state and federal contracts to political contributors, as well as write laws and regulations to benefit their corporate sponsors at the expense of the poor. Aramark fires unionized workers inside prisons and jails and replaces them with underpaid, nonunionized employees. And it makes sure the food is low enough in both quality and portion to produce huge profits.
Aramark, often contracted to provide food to prisoners at about a dollar a meal, is one of numerous corporations, from phone companies to construction firms, that have found our grotesque system of mass incarceration to be very profitable. The bodies of the poor, when they are not captive, are worth little to corporations. But bodies behind bars can each generate $40,000 to $50,000 a year for corporate coffers.
"It used to be that prison food was prepared and served by [government] employees, sometimes with prison workers assisting," David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project, told PBS. "This is part of the increasing privatization of prisons and ancillary services that we've seen over the past few decades."
Organizers of last year's prison strike are planning a new protest against Aramark, a massive for-profit food provider of both sports stadium fare and prison meals nationwide.
Aramark "provides meals for more than 500 correctional facilities across the country and has been the subject of complaints about maggots and rocks, sexual harassment, drug trafficking and other employee misconduct," noted PBS, which on Sunday first reported the latest planned protest.
Leaders of the Free Alabama Movement, the organizers behind September's nationwide prison strike that sought to draw attention to what they call modern-day slavery, are planning to march on January 14 in Washington, D.C. to protest the company.
Free Alabama Movement spokesman Pastor Kenneth Glasgow also told PBS that prisoners around the country will strike in solidarity with the protest--marking the second time they've gone on strike in the last six months.
As for how successful the protest will be, one prisoner commented to PBS that "I think many of us were surprised by the magnitude of and coordination exhibited by the prison strike last year, so it would not surprise me if this turned out to be quite widespread. Time will tell."
The organizers told PBS that Aramark was representative of the "prison industrial complex," that is, the number of private corporations that rely on incarcerating people to feed their profits.
"They are the biggest benefactors of prisoners," Glasgow observed.
"And they have a history of neglecting prisoners, serving bad food, not enough food, or undernourished food," Glasgow added. "[T]his is why we have chosen to boycott."
Journalist and author Chris Hedges explored Aramark's vast profits made on the backs of those incarcerated through the for-profit prison boom, writing in 2013:
Aramark [...] does what corporations are doing throughout the society: It lavishes campaign donations on pliable politicians, who in turn hand out state and federal contracts to political contributors, as well as write laws and regulations to benefit their corporate sponsors at the expense of the poor. Aramark fires unionized workers inside prisons and jails and replaces them with underpaid, nonunionized employees. And it makes sure the food is low enough in both quality and portion to produce huge profits.
Aramark, often contracted to provide food to prisoners at about a dollar a meal, is one of numerous corporations, from phone companies to construction firms, that have found our grotesque system of mass incarceration to be very profitable. The bodies of the poor, when they are not captive, are worth little to corporations. But bodies behind bars can each generate $40,000 to $50,000 a year for corporate coffers.
"It used to be that prison food was prepared and served by [government] employees, sometimes with prison workers assisting," David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project, told PBS. "This is part of the increasing privatization of prisons and ancillary services that we've seen over the past few decades."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.