Based on the lived experiences of incarcerated persons and staff, this book explores the symbolic significance of prison foodways to normalization, autonomy, identity construction, power, group formation and security. The book also traces the rationalization(s) that policy makers attach to prison food, from the water and bread diet of the 18^th century, the contested abolition of alcohol consumption, to the current fear surrounding the spread of COVID-19 through food distribution in prisons. The argument is developed that prison food policies have always reflected how Belgian...

Based on the lived experiences of incarcerated persons and staff, this book explores the symbolic significance of prison foodways to normalization, autonomy, identity construction, power, group formation and security. The book also traces the rationalization(s) that policy makers attach to prison food, from the water and bread diet of the 18^th century, the contested abolition of alcohol consumption, to the current fear surrounding the spread of COVID-19 through food distribution in prisons. The argument is developed that prison food policies have always reflected how Belgian...