I visited the Rikers jail kitchen. I left shaken by what I'd seen.

"Nearly 7,000 detainees are in custody at Rikers. In 2024, the city spent $19 billion to feed them all, amounting to 7 million meals. I wanted to learn why the price tag is so high and how the operation works."

"Here, chefs - not detainees - do the cooking. When they're on shift, the cooks are locked in, too."

"Rikers Island, New York City's most notorious jail complex, sits in the water between the Bronx and Queens. When I visited the complex in April 2025, I expected it to be hard to reach - and I wasn't wrong. There's just one small, mile-long bridge for everyone entering and exiting the facility."

Rikers Island, New York City's largest jail complex located between the Bronx and Queens, houses nearly 7,000 detainees and serves approximately 7 million meals yearly at a cost of $19 billion. The facility operates a substantial kitchen where professional chefs, rather than detainees, prepare meals from scratch. Access to the complex is limited to a single mile-long bridge. The kitchen maintains constant operational readiness for emergency scenarios. Chefs working in the facility are locked in during their shifts, experiencing the same security constraints as the incarcerated population. The scale and complexity of feeding such a large population while maintaining security protocols creates significant operational and financial demands.

Read at Business Insider