"I formally complain pursuant to 1 Pa Code 35.1 et seq. and/or pursuant to the analogous provisions of the code governing the Department of Agriculture. I have been referred to Region V by Lychon Radle of the Laboratory Division of the Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services, Department of Agriculture in Harrisburg. I make the following explicit allegations. I request that appropriate toxicological, bacteriological and physical tests of foods produced for consumption by prisoners [and staff] in the kitchen of SCI-Smithfield be promptly performed and that all the foods served to prisoners be fit for human consumption.
"1. Mashed potatoes (locally but inaccurately termed "whipped potatoes") prepared in the SCI-Smithfield kitchen appear to be contaminated and unfit for human consumption. The dish appears to be prepared from rotten or partly rotten and blackened potatoes. The rot/blight, eyes, surface blemishes and much of the un-scrubbed skin is not removed from the potatoes, but it is all mashed together in a lumpy, grayish olio studded with raisin-sized chunks of black rot. The man in charge of the prison kitchen informed me that this was done because of "security concerns."
"2. Several sorts of beans (kidney, pinto, etc.) appear to be served without proper cooking/heating so that they are [dirty,] indigestible and, perhaps unsafe.
"3. Potatoes, certain fruits and salad vegetables appear to be served without proper or adequate washing. Potatoes with grit and soil clinging to the skins are chunked, cooked and served without washing. Apples and pears are served without proper washing or removal of agricultural chemicals/fertilizers. Cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. appear to be sliced and served as salad or as garnish without being properly washed to remove soil and pesticides.
"The staff employed in the prison kitchen appears to direct little of its attention to the preparation of meals or to food safety. Their obsession appears to be a misplaced priority, indeed an unhealthy paranoia, that a prisoner might 'steal' a tidbit.
"The fetish for depriving prisoners of any 'extra' scrap of the food that the legislature has appropriated for them [contrasts with] the bounty of unauthorized foods skimmed from the prisoners' diet to feed to the staff and the alarmingly massive amounts of foods which are discarded. 'Special" or 'good' foods are siphoned form the prisoners' food budget to be lavished upon the staff while the policy is that it's better to discard food than to feed anything 'extra' to a prisoner."
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