Juxtaposing insights from the academic literature with those drawn from lived experience, this Perspective article explores the role of food in federal prisons in Canada. Highlighting its multiple meanings and uses, we underscore the complexity of food in prison as well as its fundamental importance in shaping the overall experience of incarceration. Rather than following the more traditional format of an academic article, our discussion takes the form of a conversation and collective reflection between the three of co-authors.

Mêlant des visions issues de la littérature spécialisée et d’expériences vécues, cet article Perspective explore le rôle de l’alimentation dans les prisons fédérales du Canada. En nous attardant à ses multiples significations et usages, nous mettons en lumière la complexité de l’alimentation dans les prisons aussi bien que son importance fondamentale dans l’expérience globale d’incarcération. Plutôt que de se mouler au modèle traditionnel de l’article scientifique, cette discussion prend la forme d’une conversation réflexive entre les trois auteurs.

Les chercheurs doivent citer ce travail comme suit :

• Wilson, A., Courchesne, J., Zahran, G., (2025), "“Eating is a hustle”: The complex realities of food in federal prison", HSSCommons: (DOI: 10.15353/cfs-rcea.v10i1.607)

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1. carceral food systems
2. carceral geographies
3. federal prisons
4. prison food

Original publication: Wilson, Amanda; Courchesne, Julie; Zahran, Ghassan. "“Eating is a hustle”: The complex realities of food in federal prison." Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, vol. 10, no. 1, 2023, pp. 55-64. DOI: 10.15353/cfs-rcea.v10i1.607. This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation. Copyright © the author(s). Work published in CFS/RCÉA prior to and including Vol. 8, No. 3 (2021) is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY license. Work published in Vol. 8, No. 4 (2021) and after is licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA license. For details, see creativecommons.org/licenses/.