9 Comments
May 5, 2023Liked by Bentham's Bulldog

FWIW at one point Maricopa County jails transitioned to vegetarian food, but I don't know if it persisted. https://www.food-management.com/news-trends/former-baywatch-star-promotes-meatless-menu-jail

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This is a surprising and delightful idea. I suppose one obvious conclusion would be that a black market in non-vegan food would quickly form in prisons. This could actually cause significant problems. I’m sure there are guys who would murder for a steak. But this may not be a enough of a counter argument to make the idea bad. I rather like it.

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Vegan food does not taste bad. Certain dairy substitutes may not suit all palates but that's a different question. Think about burritos, vegetable stir-fries, thunder tea rice, a lot of south Indian vegetarian food. Even arabiatta and pomodoro pastas. Sure, there are lots of awesome things you could do with milk, cheese and yoghurt, but vegan food is not terrible.

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Cruel and Unusual.

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My favorite time of punishments.

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I like this idea! If I was a politician and wanted to be minimally controversial, I'd offer it as a choice. 10% off your sentence if you go vegan! Though I'm sure the media will still freak out about it.

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I like vegan food. I like vegans. I wish more people ate a plant-based diet.

But this proposal is obviously a bad idea. The last thing I would want is for people to associate vegan food with prison. That would almost certainly result in fewer people wanting a plant-based diet.

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I like this even beyond the suffering reasons - it'd be cheaper. Beans, nuts, oats and seeds are reasonably good protein sources and significantly cheaper than meat. Plus it might make them more likely to eat less meat outside of prison (I think non-vegans tend to have a lack of imagination for food)

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That would, in any humane society, constitute the very definition of "cruel and inhumane" punishment!

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