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Hungry for More – Washington City Paper

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During a brief stint in the D.C. Jail, Ivory Haight remembers one woman in particular—not by name, but for her relentless requests for food.

“This one lady always wanted your food,” says Haight, 40, who has cycled in and out of local lock-ups beginning when she was 16.

At meal times, when the woman would come by begging for what little food Haight had on her own tray, she admits that she was tempted to use violence to put a stop to it. Tensions are already high in the jail, Haight says, and it doesn’t take much to set someone off. The poor quality and small amount of food only worsens the situation, she says.

“It never came to that because she saw my attitude, and real recognize real,” Haight says. “So she didn’t come my way with that drama anymore. Thank god for that.” 

Haight eventually learned that the woman was only living off of the meals provided by the Department of Corrections and couldn’t afford to purchase extra food at the commissary like others often did. After that, she softened a bit and befriended the woman, Haight says, adding that eating from the commissary is a necessity for survival inside the D.C. Jail.

“Every day they fought over food. Everyone’s mad because there’s nothing to eat,” she says. “We’re already irritated because we’re waking up to garbage, and you got people hovering over you, begging for your food. ‘Are you gonna eat that?’ ‘Can I have that?’ Every day you’re begging for something. People were fighting in there constantly.”

Haight says she hasn’t seen the inside of a jail cell in over a decade. Now she’s working on opening a transition home for women returning home from prison. She just secured a business license and a so-called “clean hands certificate” indicating that she doesn’t have any outstanding debts with the D.C. government. She’s now looking for a building and grant funding.

In the meantime, she’s lending her voice to advocate for better food service inside the D.C. Jail in light of a bill currently before the D.C. Council.

Earlier this year, Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced the Food Regulation Ensures Safety Hospitality Special Training Aids Reentry Transition and Success Act of 2023, or FRESH STARTS Act. If signed into law, the bill would set nutritional standards for meals served in the jail and require the Department of Corrections to adopt the Good Food Purchasing Policy, a national campaign that prioritizes local economies, environmental sustainability, workers’ rights, animal welfare, and nutrition.

The bill also establishes a “Fresh Foods Fund” to supplement the DOC’s existing contract for food services in the purchase of “nutrient-dense foods.” The fund can also be used to provide grants to incarcerated people who cannot afford to purchase food from the commissary.

To learn more about the bill’s future and about approaches to food in other corrections systems, read the full story on our website. There, you can also read earlier editions of Inside Voices, our project chronicling the experiences of D.C. residents who have been or are currently incarcerated, produced in collaboration with More Than Our Crimes.

—Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com



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