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Advocates urge overhaul of San Francisco jail food contract ahead of May RFP
Summary
A coalition led by the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center urged the Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board to press for stronger RFP language and local sourcing before a roughly $26 million jail food contract is reissued May 19.
Shakira Simley, executive director of the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center, told the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board that the city should use the upcoming request for proposals for jail food to secure fresher, culturally appropriate and locally sourced meals for people incarcerated in San Francisco.
Simley said the coalition she represents—FACS (Food and Agriculture Coalition Toward Sovereignty), a 30-member group of community-based organizations—wants the city to require vendors to subcontract with smaller local producers, create regular feedback loops with incarcerated people and families, and add explicit RFP language requiring nutrition, cultural competency and unannounced inspections. “Food is a basic human right, and folks, everyone, no matter where you are or who you are, should have access to good, fresh, clean, just food,” Simley said.
The coalition flagged the jail food contract currently held by Aramark, which Simley described as…
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