kitchen worker describes feces, rats, cockroaches, birds in kitchen; aramark refuses to adequately address poor food quality and unsanitary conditions

I am incarcerated in the Santa Rita Jail in Housing Unit 24A. I have been in custody since January, 2020. I am a federal prisoner. I currently work in the kitchen under the supervision of Aramark Correctional Services. have worked in the kitchen since April 2020.

I work in the kitchen 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. Until recently, my shifts are from 3:30pm to about 9-9:30pm. 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. There is one kitchen at Santa Rita Jail, and that one kitchen prepares all the meals for ever prisoner in Santa Rita Jail. Until recently, I worked as a dispatcher with inmate Swain. I help to organize the special diets such as kosher, low salt, and vegetarian. I know how many meals go to the infirmary as well as to people with special diets. I count them carefully so that we don’t get any calls from the Housing Units that somebody did not get their meal.

Our Aramark supervisor, Margarita, was on leave due to COVID-19 until around July or August of this year. The quality of the food has gotten a lot worse since she came back, and there have been more call backs about people missing their special diet meals.

About a month ago, I got into an argument with Margarita about the food trays. I have found rat poop on top of the meal trays that are going out to the housing units. When I brought this issue up with Margarita, she picked off the rat poop with her bare hands and threw it away. My dispatch partner Inmate Swain also witnessed this. I reported this to a kitchen deputy and asked for the trays to be remade. We have to fight to get Aramark to throw away food that is not fit to serve. Rather than make all new trays, they try to transfer the old food into a new tray.

I have found rat poop on top of the meal trays that are going out to the housing units. When I brought this issue up with Margarita, she picked off the rat poop with her bare hands and threw it away…. I reported this to a kitchen deputy and asked for the trays to be remade. We have to fight to get Aramark to throw away food that is not fit to serve. Rather than make all new trays, they try to transfer the old food into a new tray.

I am also one of the inmates who knows how to use the machine that seals plastic onto the trays. Both hard plastic and paper trays are sealed, but the paper trays are not tall enough to go in the machine so they’re often not properly sealed. We have to stack several paper trays beneath each tray to get the lip of the tray high enough to create a seal, which doesn’t always work. Also the hard plastic trays which are bent or cracked do not seal properly. We seal the trays up to 2 days in advance before the meals are eaten. When the trays are stored, there are rats running on top of them trying to get into the food. Because many of the other inmates are not as careful with the sealing machine, or do not know how to work the machine, many trays are not properly sealed.

Sealing the trays is important not just to keep cockroaches and rats out of the food, but because the food is prepared days in advance, and will spoil more easily or dry out. The hot trays are put in the oven for at least 2 hours before serving. A tray that is not properly sealed dries out in the oven, making the food hard to eat.

There are four lines: two for prepping meals, and two for special diets. The lines for prepping meals are dirty. The lines are dirty because left over food is on the line. The birds and rats climb onto the line to eat the left over food. I have seen rat poop on the line. I have also seen cockroaches walking over the buttons. When I tried to kill them, they ran into the machine. I try to pressure-wash the line when I can, but I am not given many opportunities to do this, and when I do get an opportunity to pressure wash, it is usually before an inspection. I have pressure washed the line three or four times over the six and a half months I’ve worked in the kitchen.

There are rodents and cockroaches in the kitchen. I see rats at least three times a week. I have seen rats and cockroaches in the storage closet and the cold prep room. I have also seen cockroaches walking on the cutting boards. Condiments are kept in boxes in the storage closet. I have seen rodent chew marks and holes in the boxes.

There are rodents and cockroaches in the kitchen. I see rats at least three times a week. I have seen rats and cockroaches in the storage closet and the cold prep room. I have also seen cockroaches walking on the cutting boards. Condiments are kept in boxes in the storage closet. I have seen rodent chew marks and holes in the boxes.

In the larger scullery, there is a fist-sized hole in the wall where rats have eaten through the sheetrock. I have seen rats coming in and out of the hole.

The kitchen at Santa Rita Jail is not sanitary, and the food is not sanitary…. I filed a grievance about the rodents. The response I received said that the issue has been resolved, because there is now one sticky trap underneath the oven in the pod. I am concerned that one trap is not enough to solve the problem. There are so many mice that women have built barricades with books to try to keep them out, but deputies take these books down.

There are birds in the kitchen that roost up high near the ceiling. These birds live in the kitchen. I see birds in the kitchen at least three times a week. There is bird poop and feathers in the kitchen. Aramark does not put way bread and baked goods. Bread and other baked goods are left out, uncovered in trays, overnight. This bread and baked goods provide ample food with easy access for birds, and rats. In the kitchen, there are large, round mirrors on the walls that are angled so that you can see around corners. These mirrors are next to the line where the food is prepared. The birds that fly around in the kitchen sometimes land on the mirrors, which are not cleaned. I have seen bird poop all over the back of the mirrors.

The kitchen at Santa Rita Jail is not sanitary, and the food is not sanitary. There are also many rodents in Housing Unit 24A. There is a gap underneath the doors between pods so mice can run underneath. I filed a grievance about the rodents. The response I received said that the issue has been resolved, because there is now one sticky trap underneath the oven in the pod. I am concerned that one trap is not enough to solve the problem. There are so many mice that women have built barricades with books to try to keep them out, but deputies take these books down.

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