Life in prison slows down during the holidays, so Terry Roach stays busy working out, mentoring people in the prison’s substance abuse program and keeping in touch with family spread across the country.
And, this year, he’s practicing for a three-on-three basketball tournament, one of several holiday events planned by officials at the Kentucky State Reformatory.
Roach, 44, has been incarcerated for 22 years. He’s one of neary 12,000 people held in Kentucky’s prisons. During Thanksgiving prison officials offer extra visitation and an array of activities and programs, according to a state Department of Corrections spokesperson.
“One thing about the holidays, it's what you make of it,” Roach said. “Now, you know, being away from your family and loved ones is definitely one thing, but it's all in the way you handle it.”
Roach said some people celebrate the holidays, others shut down. The season can trigger some people struggling with drug or mental health issues in prison, just as they can for people on the outside.
“For me, what it is, it's a reminder of things to come,” Roach said.
Roach looks forward to a real Thanksgiving out of prison with a real Thanksgiving meal, the kind he grew up with in Paducah.
For this year’s Thanksgiving, people in Kentucky’s prisons will get 4.5 ounces of turkey, bread dressing, one cup of mashed potatoes, 3 ounces of gravy, some cranberry sauce, green beans and two dinner rolls, according to a menu obtained by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting.
For dessert, a pumpkin square and 8 ounces of fruit drink or tea.
“It's a blessing, but at the same time, it's not what I'm used to,” Roach said. “Growing up and coming from a family, a big family, you know what a real Thanksgiving meal is.”
Louisville Metro Department of Corrections will serve a similar menu to the 1,440 people incarcerated at the downtown jail, but the menu provided by LMDC did not include serving portions.
Nearly 20 people have died while incarcerated at the Louisville jail since 2021, according to news reports.
Shawnta Hughes died earlier this month. Her son, Deandre, said he’s also spent some time incarcerated in the Louisville jail and he knows the lack of supervision and health services are not safe for the people held there.
Deandre Hughes and criminal justice advocates recently held a press conference calling on jail officials to address systemic failures they say contribute to deaths inside the downtown facility.
“Everybody woke up today with Thanksgiving on their mind, but you know what? Not me,” Hughes told KyCIR. “I woke up thinking about, ‘wow, another day and I still haven't received a word about how my mother died, haven’t received one detail, haven’t received a call.’”
‘Prison food is prison food’
Aramark provides food for state prisons and the Louisville jail. The company signed a new contract with the state in September and with Louisville Metro government in October. The DOC contract requires the company to provide holiday meals that are 50% larger than normal portions.
According to people currently and formerly incarcerated, even those larger portions don’t make for a satisfying, nutritious meal.
Aramark, headquartered in Philadelphia, contracts with about 450 correctional facilities in North America. The company has faced several lawsuits over the years from incarcerated people alleging problems with prison food.
In 2021, a man at the Kentucky State Reformatory said the company’s food was unhealthy for people with diabetes. A 2023 lawsuit in West Virginia accused the company of serving spoiled and undercooked food. People in a California jail sued the company in 2019 for serving food contaminated with rat feces and cockroaches.
An Aramark spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuits.
Amanda Hall doesn’t remember the specifics of the 2010 Thanksgiving meal served at the Kentucky Correctional Institute for Women in Shelby County, where she was incarcerated for 13 months.
“But prison food is prison food,” Hall said. "It is not good.”
Hall, now the senior director of campaigns for the advocacy group Dream.org, said the women would save up money made from low-paying prison jobs such as cleaning the visitation room — Hall’s job while at KCIW — to buy something special from the commissary.
Hall said a dish made of noodles and sausages from the commissary was overpriced, but tasted better than cafeteria food.
Hall said sharing wasn’t allowed, but the women would pool resources on holidays and some corrections officers would look the other way.
One Thanksgiving memory sticks with Hall: A friend, a woman named Melissa who, like Hall, was from eastern Kentucky, made her a dessert from fudge rounds and peanut butter.
Hall said Melissa has since died, but she thinks of her every Thanksgiving. She remembers how they would gather around those makeshift commissary treats and swap family stories.
“Just trying our best against the absolute worst circumstances to feel some kind of gratitude,” Hall said. “Just for a few minutes feeling kind of normal.”
