Jail Inmates Help Cook Food for Seniors
Says WW II Vet: ‘Fish Served Hard as Rock'

ST. MARY’S TODAY

LEONARDTOWN — The food for seniors in St. Mary’s is being prepared at
a kitchen in shambles at the county jail, with no storage area for dry foods, leading to concerns about safety and hygiene of food prepared for the aging population.
Inmate labor assists in the preparation of the meals under supervision and guidance of food service staff, an official report said.
“At present, the trash room is used for storage of dry goods for the kitchen operation,” the report entitled ‘St. Mary’s County Jail Expansion Project Justification Report,’ made available to ST. MARY’S TODAY by Sheriff David Zylak’s office reads.
“I have no comments on the report, because I haven’t seen it,” said Jennie Page, acting director of the Department of Aging. She said a written contract the Department of Aging has with Aramark indicates the types and quality of food to be served to the seniors
The Sheriff’s jail report said the food service operation provides meals for the St. Mary’s County Meals on Wheels Program in addition to the Detention Center population.Seniors, like children, are most vulnerable to food-related sicknesses and disease
There is a dedicated cook for the Department of Aging, Page said. She contradicted the Sheriff’s jail report and said that inmates do not cook the food served to the seniors. Inspectors from the Health Department make regular visits to the Detention Center kitchen to ensure that safe food sanitation procedures are followed and that the Detention Center is in compliance with health standards, she said.
Many seniors have complained of highly unpalatable, uncooked food and one, a World War Two veteran, said the fish served was as hard as rock. Some inmates through letters to ST. MARY’S TODAY said they have seen cockroaches in the kitchen area.
Page said storage issues are a detention center issue. “You may want to ask this question to those in-charge of the detention center,” Page said.
The food service area is in operation from 4:00 am to 9 pm, seven days per week, the report said. The document details the satisfactory storage of perishable food, located in one freezer of approximately 150 square feet and one cooler of the same size.
But the report makes a shocking revelation. Storage of dry goods is insufficient for the needs of the jail itself, let alone the senior population enrolled on the Meals on Wheels Program.
“The dry goods storage area is not able to store all the required goods and as a result, kitchen dry goods are stored throughout the area,” the report said.
The delivery area consists of a loading dock as well as a trash storage room. Delivery of food and other goods takes place three days per week, costing taxpayers additional dollars because of skyrocketing fuel prices.
Because of the lack of storage capability, there appears to be no way to help the seniors in case of an emergency beyond the proverbial seven days. “Food service staff estimates that they have approximately a one-week supply of food in the event of some type of disaster,” the report reads.