The jail has my name as Domonique Swain, but my legal name is Astrid Taylor. I am incarcerated in the Santa Rita Jail in Housing Unit 24B. I currently work in the kitchen under the supervision of Aramark Correctional Services. I currently work in the kitchen, and have worked on the assembly line, in the scullery, and in the chiller and freezer. I have worked in the kitchen for 5 months.
I was also trained to work as a dispatcher with inmate Zamora. As a dispatcher, I help to organize the special diets such as kosher, low salt, and vegetarian. Until recently, my shifts began at 3:30pm. On October 29, an Aramark worker tested positive for COVID-19. We found out about the Aramark worker on Friday, November 9. Since then, we started working a new shift from 8pm-midnight.
I have seen mice, rats, and birds in many parts of the kitchen. I have seen cockroaches as well as rat poop, bird droppings, and rodent urine. Because of the vermin I have seen, at this point, I do not want to eat the food that is served and only eat food during my shift because I can see how it is prepared.
I have seen mice, rats, and birds in many parts of the kitchen. I have seen cockroaches as well as rat poop, bird droppings, and rodent urine. Because of the vermin I have seen, at this point, I do not want to eat the food that is served and only eat food during my shift because I can see how it is prepared.
The surfaces of the assembly line are not always wiped down after use, and sometimes they are dirty from the day before when I begin my shift.
The ingredients used to create meals on the assembly line are stored on tables next to the line. I have seen food fall off of these tables, but then be picked up and used by kitchen workers. I have also seen people pick slices of bologna off the floor while using the meat slicer.
I have seen our Aramark supervisor, Margarita, pull unused trays out of the garbage to be used on the line again. This concerns me because I try to keep things as clean and sanitary as possible. Margarita sometimes sees rat poop sitting on top of the trays. I have seen her dust off rat poop with her bare hands. I have also seen Margarita pull bugs out of the food, with her hands.
During our shifts, we are provided with gloves to wear. However, because people are jumping from task to task, they aren’t given enough time to wash their hands or change their gloves. People will go from dispatch to trash or from the scullery to prep, based on where they are needed most. Workers from Aramark do not wear gloves. They do not always wear hair nets. I have seen Aramark workers go from mopping to serving food without washing their hands or putting on gloves. They are regularly touching the food.
I have seen our Aramark supervisor, Margarita, pull unused trays out of the garbage to be used on the line again. This concerns me because I try to keep things as clean and sanitary as possible. Margarita sometimes sees rat poop sitting on top of the trays. I have seen her dust off rat poop with her bare hands. I have also seen Margarita pull bugs out of the food, with her hands.
One of the things that concerns me most is leftovers. Food that is used in the assembly line is not properly closed or sealed, so cookies and sandwich ingredients have a chance to become contaminated before they are even sealed into the plastic trays. I have found rat poop in the food before it is sealed in the trays.
We apply expiration dates to food when it is being chilled and before it goes into the freezer. There are items in the freezer that are old and past their expiration date. Some of the food is so old that I can’t tell what it is. I have filed grievances about this, but my grievances were denied.
I do not have my Serve Safe certification. Some of the other women who work in the kitchen got a guide to study for the test, but everyone failed the test. Even though I never took the test, they still regularly call me to do vegetable prep when they are short handed. I have not been cleared to do a lot of the tasks that I am asked to do in the kitchen.
One of the things that concerns me most is leftovers. Food that is used in the assembly line is not properly closed or sealed, so cookies and sandwich ingredients have a chance to become contaminated before they are even sealed into the plastic trays. I have found rat poop in the food before it is sealed in the trays.
There are two inmates and at most, one Aramark supervisor assigned to each station in the kitchen: the sculleries, assembly lines, chiller, and freezer. There are 5 Aramark workers, but not everyone is here all of the time. There are not enough people working in the kitchen to follow the menu. If the kitchen doesn’t have enough of something for what’s on the menu, they just change the menu without checking with the dietician. We end up using whatever is leftover or whatever we have already.
During the week of October 19, Inmate Zamora and I worked in the scullery, because Margarita did not want to work dispatch with us. On October 22, many of the meals and carts that were supposed to be dispatched went out late because Margarita couldn’t handle the job by herself. There were callbacks from the units that people with special diets missed their meals.
The deputy supervising us told us that Margarita does not like to work with the women, because we are more likely to report issues like food contamination or re-using old food. I am concerned that we spend less time working in the kitchen because Margarita does not like us.
We apply expiration dates to food when it is being chilled and before it goes into the freezer. There are items in the freezer that are old and past their expiration date. Some of the food is so old that I can’t tell what it is. I have filed grievances about this, but my grievances were denied.
At each station, there is too much work to be done by only 2 people, and many people have quit because it is hard work. In the scullery for trays, we wash thousands of trays per shift. I have worked most in the scullery cleaning the food trays. When trays return to the kitchen, we are supposed to dump out unused or half-eaten food before the trays are cleaned and loaded with new food. The used trays come back in large, round bins, called Buckhorns. These bins full of trays with food sit out overnight. They are not put away or secured. These open bins provide easy access and ample food for rats and the birds that live in the kitchen. By the time the trays are washed, the food has dried and caked onto the trays.
To wash the trays, there are two sinks, side by side, each with two tubs; and 2 sanitizing machines side by side. The trays are not first rinsed, but are dumped into the sink. We wash about 100 trays at a time in the sink, which has two tubs. and a motor to move the trays around in the water. When the trays go into the sink, they are oily and caked with food. Because the food has been on the trays for a while and the food is dried onto these plastic trays, simply swishing the trays around in the water does not get off all the caked on food.
I really want to do a good job and wash the trays. I try to soak the trays for at least 5 minutes. I usually try and pull the wet trays out of the sink to try to scrub off the food and the oily residue. The only tool we have to clean the trays are a green scrubbing pad. We really need something like steel wool or a putty knife to get off as much caked food as possible. Plus, there are too many trays to be able to clean and spot check every single one before it goes into the sanitizer.
These bins full of trays with food sit out overnight. They are not put away or secured. These open bins provide easy access and ample food for rats and the birds that live in the kitchen. By the time the trays are washed, the food has dried and caked onto the trays.
There are not enough workers and not enough time to do a good job. There are only two workers assigned to the scullery. One of us washes the trays, the other person stacks the trays and runs them through the sanitizer. There really should be 6 people working in the big scullery: two people washing dishes at each sink, 2 people pulling out the trays, 1 person to run the trays through the sanitizer, and 1 person to stack the sanitized trays. The whole process takes about 7-10 minutes for 100 trays. The sanitizer is not a dishwasher. The cycle is very short, no more than five minutes. So, when the sanitizer cycle is done, we are expected to run another load through. This means trays only really swish around in the tub for about five minutes.
Aramark also does not tell us to change the water in the sink nor add fresh soap. It takes a lot of time to drain and refill the sinks with fresh water. My job is a lot easier with 2 sinks but depending on when we arrive for our shift, we may not have time to fill the second sink. We often run out of soap and have to ask for more. By the end of the shift, there is no way for the trays to get clean because the water is dirty and not warm. It is cool enough for me to comfortably put my hands in when I am wearing latex gloves. Sometimes there is dirty water already in the sink when I arrive for my shift and I am expected to use it.
Our chest, upper arms, and faces come into contact with the trash. I am concerned for my health and safety when I take out the garbage, because I have seen blood, feces, dead rats, and dead birds in the trash.
After trays, pots, and pans are washed, we also have to take out the trash. We take out the trash for the entire jail, including the infirmary and mental health. When we empty the rows of bins into a trash compactor, we have to do it all by hand. We wear a surgical mask and gloves to do this. Because the bins are so heavy, we have a lot of physical contact with the trash as we lift it into the compactor. Our chest, upper arms, and faces come into contact with the trash. I am concerned for my health and safety when I take out the garbage, because I have seen blood, feces, dead rats, and dead birds in the trash.