Power County Sheriff Jim Jeffries said the jail may need to see some changes when it comes to food.
Jeffries has met with state, county and federal officials in recent weeks to discuss whether or not the jail needs to change how it feeds the inmates.
“Historically the jail hasn’t had a professional cook,” Jeffries said. “That’s how it has been done for decades. Instead we use inmates in the kitchen with intermediate supervision.”
While this works well when the inmates working in the kitchen are talented cooks, this doesn’t work so well when the opposite is true.
Jeffries said he is considering contracting with Food Services of America to provide prepackaged food to the jail.
Besides possibly saving money, the meals provided by FSA would meet the Idaho Jail Standards requirement that every inmate be served 2,500 calories a day.
Jeffries said he recently hired food specialist Lisa Krell to do an oversight at the jail and she reported that it was impossible to determine exactly how many calories were being provided to the inmates. Jeffries said Krell advised him to consider hiring FSA.
Besides allowing the jail to know how many calories were being served to the inmates, FSA would also provide training guides, menus and allow for better portion control.
The problem with hiring FSA, according to the sheriff, is not buying the food locally.
“We’ve had quite a bit of success in the past and been able to buy locally,” he said. “Ken’s Market has been great when we need to buy cases of food... I hate not supporting the community.”
Jeffries said if he does choose to use FSA then he would do so on a three-month trial period.
“It remains to be seen what FSA can save us,” he said.
After the trial period ended, Jeffries said he would make a final decision on the matter. He also added that the jail would continue to buy locally whenever possible.