Wabash County Sheriff's Department
KITCHEN
The department's kitchen is operated under the direction under the direction of Jail Matron Flo Dahlstrom, with the assistance of evening cook Jean Bowman and week-end cook Gloria Emerick.
Why write about the kitchen? Remember your days in school? the hospital? military service? the police acadmeny? The biggest complaints are about food in these places and the same is true of a jail or prison. We hope to show that we feel that our kitchen does a great job at serving the inmates, in fact so good that most of the members of the department eats there too.
Assisting Flo and the cooks are inmates trustees. They work in three men crews on an every other day shift. The day begins at 9AM, helping preparing lunch until 12:30PM. The it is back on duty at 2PM till 6PM. The shift ends the next day after breakfast clean up. Breakfast is served at 5AM.
Inmates are selected as trustess by Flo and must meet the following criteria:
Can not be charged with or convicted if a violent crime
Must be sentenced to the Wabash County Jail for a minimum of three months to serve
Must be recommended by the jail officers as having adapted to their stay in jail,
they must get along with other inmates and have no write ups
Trustess are then trained in all aspects of kitchen duties, starting with cleanliness ( washing hands and wearing hairnets and gloves) and then to include cooking. This is not a paid position for the trustees, but they do recieved extra food, special treats, a special visit once a month, and on occasions a video to watch in our library. Most inmates want a trustee position to keep busy and help make their time pass more quickly.
It should be stated that in Indiana the Sheriff pays for the food for all the inmates. He then submitts a total number of meals served for the month to the county. They then pay the Sheriff a set figure per meal. This figure or amount is set by the State of Indiana. Therefore the Sheriff, if he spends more to feed them then he is paid, he must pay the balance, and if he spends less he collects the amount over and it is his to keep. This is the Indiana State Law, so when it is said that the inmates gets extra food or treats for working in the kitchen, the Sheriff pays for it,a s he does when members eats there.
Most of the food is made from scratch and is based on a 5 week menu rotation. This menu has been approved by Mary Schaeffer, dietitian at the Wabash County Hospital. Special diets are recoognized as required by physicians or dentists' written instructions.
The kitchen is inspected every 3 months by the County Health Inspector and every 6 months by the State Jail Inspector.
Flo is very proud, as we all are, that the kitchen has maintained a 100% rating upon all these inspections
One Day Sample Menu
BREAKFAST LUNCH DINNER
3/4 cup oatmeal 4 oz hot slice turkey 1 BLT sandwich
8 oz milk 1/2 cup parsley butter potatoes potato chips
2 slices toast with butter 1/2 cup California blend with cheese 1 oz cheese
6 oz orange juice 1/2 cup blueberries 1/2 cup whole corn
2 slices bread with butter 5 apricot halves
Check out Flo's Jailhouse Recipes
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