Crackers and water
By Amy L. Edwards,
Sentinel Staff Writer
POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has figured out how to shave about $161,000 from his budget: serve cheaper food at the jail.
Instead of two fresh eggs a week, inmates will be limited to one frozen egg patty, which equals two eggs nutritionally. And rather than two bread slices at breakfast, the limit is one. No fresh milk, either. The new alternative is nonfat powdered milk. Judd says he drinks the stuff at home, and if it’s good enough for the sheriff, it’s good enough for the jail’s 2,400 inmates.
Judd, who has claimed to be “so cheap I squeak,” is free to make these changes because unlike jails in Orange and Seminole counties, he’s not tethered to a food-service contract with an outside company.
Judd called the 2,300-to-2,800-calorie daily diet “strict” but said agency officials worked with a nutritionist to make sure they follow state jail nutrition guidelines.
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Menu swaps at Polk jail
Out
Corn bread
Tea and juice
2 slices of bread
2 fresh eggs
PB&J sandwich
Fresh milk
In
Crackers
Water
1 slice of bread
1 frozen egg patty
Bologna sandwich
Powdered milk
Annual savings
$33,304
$56,630
$25,116
$24,545
$11,076
$10,545
Total savings
$161,216
Copyright 2008 Sentinel Communications Co.