While a general understanding of incarcerated persons’ experiences with prison food has been provided by recent reviews, little remains known about their subjective food needs. As meeting these needs can contribute to improving health outcomes, effective prison management and sustainability goals, this review aims to synthesize the findings of qualitative literature to provide a comprehensive overview of incarcerated persons’ subjective food needs.
Following a Population, Concept and Context framework, a systematic search of ten databases was conducted in August 2024, yielding 5,114 records. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported on (formerly) incarcerated persons’ needs regarding prison food or the prison foodservice, resulting in the inclusion of 20 studies. To analyze these studies’ findings, a thematic synthesis was conducted.
Four main themes of incarcerated persons’ subjective food needs were identified: practical needs, health needs, lifestyle needs and self-determination needs. Importantly, food needs varied between subgroups of incarcerated persons based on their personal pre-prison characteristics and customs. However, the findings also suggest a general hierarchy of food needs across the included studies and the subgroups represented within them.
Recognizing that certain food needs are considered of greater importance than others, and that these needs differ between persons, is essential for tailoring prison food to meet incarcerated persons’ needs. As this offers a straightforward approach to contribute to a variety of benefits for both incarcerated persons and the prison administration, future research and policy should focus on investigating and addressing these needs.
