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Do Prisons Offer Cooking Classes?

So many people on Chopped look like convicts that I have to wonder if cooking is a major rehabilitation program. All the tats, shaved heads (female), ear gauges, piercings, navy blue hair, keffiyehs (being worn by white people). I know anyone with 4 limbs, sight, hearing & a sense of smell is a potential chef, but these are some downtrodden looking people.

by Anonymousreply 33February 28, 2020 11:14 PM

In the state that I know, the inmates who work in the kitchen learn cooking skills. Barber school is another trade you can pick up in prison.

by Anonymousreply 1February 18, 2020 10:17 PM

Yes with honeybuns, soups and ramen noodles. Wash it down with a cup of buck.

by Anonymousreply 2February 18, 2020 10:35 PM

British Prisons provide courses that lead to NVQ qualifications in Catering.

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by Anonymousreply 3February 18, 2020 10:42 PM

They did at West Virginia’s Alderson Federal Prison in 2004. That was when / where Martha Stewart was incarcerated .

Martha taught the other inmates how to prepare bread pudding and to make crabapple compote. The inmates also learned how to knit ponchos!

by Anonymousreply 4February 18, 2020 11:02 PM

"British Prisons provide courses that lead to NVQ qualifications in Catering."

NVQ = Not Very Qualified

by Anonymousreply 5February 18, 2020 11:12 PM

Someone needs to write "The Cagemeat Cookbook."

by Anonymousreply 6February 18, 2020 11:43 PM

Cooking is the occupation of morons

by Anonymousreply 7February 19, 2020 12:08 AM

"I just wanna win chopped for my (tears up) daughter. She's the most important thing in the world to me & I love her so much & want her to be proud of me. I love you Sage baby "

by Anonymousreply 8February 22, 2020 7:57 PM

I want to win Chopped to show my Asian family that I'm not a worthless piece of shit for not being smart emough to become an engineer or a doctor. And all my foods are an expression of honor for my Asian heritage."

"Thank you chef Aimee."

by Anonymousreply 9February 22, 2020 8:00 PM

The best doughnuts I ever had were made by someone who learned how to make them in prison. He had a small place in Highland Park in Los Angeles. He was sold out by 7 am.

by Anonymousreply 10February 22, 2020 8:12 PM

I can only imagine the quality of food, given what they serve. Is it High School cafeteria-quality food? That would be a step up, I understand.

R7, not everybody’s a natural genius and any job is worthy of respect.

by Anonymousreply 11February 22, 2020 8:16 PM

A tat-free chef is, nowadays, like an Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

And don't get me started on the greasy ponytails and filthy beards . . .

by Anonymousreply 12February 22, 2020 8:20 PM

No. Cooking is the career choice of the socially challenged with issues. If you are horrible at school, can’t deal with people - but like making things - cooking seems like a good career choice.

by Anonymousreply 13February 22, 2020 8:47 PM

My closeted gay cousin was a chef & he was a terrible cook but he thought he was great. The only reasob he got work was because his family owned restaurants. He went to prison after he became a chef, though.

by Anonymousreply 14February 25, 2020 10:55 PM

....

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by Anonymousreply 15February 25, 2020 11:01 PM

Prisons where? There are massive differences between penal systems of different countries. In countries with a strong rehabilitative focus (e.g., Scandinavia, Germany, Netherlands), there are usually programs for vocational training. Since every prison has its own kitchen, work there or vocational training for becoming a cook is very commonplace.

by Anonymousreply 16February 25, 2020 11:04 PM

I’m a parole officer, and there are a lot of vocational programs in culinary arts that target and accept people with criminal records so that definitely is a part of it. But I mostly think it’s just due to people being more and more tattooed and those people self-selecting into a career that doesn’t hold that against them as opposed to more white-collar jobs.

by Anonymousreply 17February 25, 2020 11:09 PM

My ex convict former chef cousin said that Florida doesn't give meat to prisoners. They get tofu and beans for protein. At first they just got tofu (tofu baloney & tofu hot dogs) but the prisoners list so much weight that amnesty international got into the act, so they added beans to prevent drastic weight loss.

by Anonymousreply 18February 25, 2020 11:10 PM

R10 He learned how to present hole behind bars and now he's making money from his experience. Good for him!

by Anonymousreply 19February 25, 2020 11:13 PM

"I made some mistakes early on in life, but I learned from them & now I consider myself a role model for young people who come from the same circumstances I did. I'd like to win that $10,000 so other disadvantaged youth will look up to me."

by Anonymousreply 20February 25, 2020 11:19 PM

I might be watching too many prison TV shows, but don't many prison offer a bunch of vocational jobs?

by Anonymousreply 21February 25, 2020 11:51 PM

The vast majority of the world aim towards rehabilitation rather than punishment. Treating prison as punishment is a bit futile, like constantly kicking your dog for misbehaving.

by Anonymousreply 22February 26, 2020 11:32 AM

I learned how to make sangria in a toilet.

by Anonymousreply 23February 26, 2020 11:40 AM

A relative of mine learned how to make Spread in jail. It's basically Top Ramen, mixed in with beans and various condiments. It sounds gross but it supposedly breaks the monotony of the usual food.

by Anonymousreply 24February 26, 2020 11:42 AM

I imagine some of the inmates work in the kitchen.

by Anonymousreply 25February 26, 2020 11:55 AM

R25, I think that's probably the best explanation. The inmates do all the work from cooking to serving to cleaning, and restaurants have high turnover for kitchen workers. So, when an ex-con tells them he worked in the kitchen for 8 years, that's experience.

by Anonymousreply 26February 26, 2020 11:59 AM

That's just the popular look right now, OP.

by Anonymousreply 27February 28, 2020 1:20 AM

My relative wanted to work in prison but was told he couldn’t because he was disabled. Then they took his disability payments away from him.

by Anonymousreply 28February 28, 2020 7:50 PM

R4, It’s a good thing.

by Anonymousreply 29February 28, 2020 8:10 PM

[quote]I’m a parole officer, and there are a lot of vocational programs in culinary arts that target and accept people with criminal records so that definitely is a part of it. But I mostly think it’s just due to people being more and more tattooed and those people self-selecting into a career that doesn’t hold that against them as opposed to more white-collar jobs.

My former brother-in-law is a barber. He was locked up for (stupidly) driving without a license, then doing it again, then doing it a third time. Then he got locked up. Then he got out. AND THEN DID IT AGAIN. Then he got locked up again for a longer amount of time ... He learned how to be a barber there and came out and does that now. He actually makes a good living. (And because he's not violent and didn't sell drugs or anything my sister allows him to see his children.)

On the other hand my very tattooed friend from University who was a philosophy major ended up a chef at a fancy NYC restaurant. Partly because he liked food then went to school for it after and also because no one cared how many tattoos he had.

by Anonymousreply 30February 28, 2020 8:24 PM

I don't know about cooking "classes," but I do know that some inmates work in the kitchen, supervised by the normal cooking staff. IIRC (no, I didn't serve time), the cooking knife is chained through the handle and connected to some immovable object, like a counter. There's a minimum security facility that has a lot of cooking going on. I've eaten a couple of meals from jail / prison facilities and the meals were pretty good.

I hate "Chopped." Low production values (bad lighting, cheap props), so everybody looks like shit.

by Anonymousreply 31February 28, 2020 9:44 PM

And partly because it’s highly unlikely to get a job in philosophy, R31

by Anonymousreply 32February 28, 2020 11:11 PM

Wow. That sounds like the perfect career choice for me @R13

by Anonymousreply 33February 28, 2020 11:14 PM
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