Cuyahoga County Exec Recommends New Meal Provider for Jail

Cuyahoga County Council welcomed legislation on Tuesday that could hire a new food supplier for the County Jail. Credit: Mark Oprea

After thousands of complaints across the years about the quality of food service at the Cuyahoga County jail, change could finally be imminent.

County Executive Chris Ronayne introduced legislation at yesterday’s County Council meeting recommending Summit Correctional Services, a staff and meal supplier for jails that’s based in Charlotte, North Carolina, to replace the controversial Trinity Service Group.

The contract, which comes in at $18 million, would cover meals for thousands of inmates in the next two years, starting this January and ending at the close of 2027. Trinity’s contract was comparable financially.

Inmates awaiting trial or transfer to prison in cells up and down the Justice Center, public records showed, had complained in droves about the meager quality of Trinity’s food over the past three years. A recent tally of complaints put grievances totaled roughly 3,000.

Potatoes or beans were served raw or uncooked; meat was pink and led to mass vomiting; powdered milk was served in lieu of the real thing; maggots were discovered crawling on trays or in heaps of soggy vegetables.

“I am eating toilet paper or paper towels as reported to medical [services],” inmate Aikeen Chambers wrote to admins on May 19, “in an attempt to try and fill up the missing space of the missing or underportioned food items.”

“My food was uncooked today,” Jamille Massingill wrote on July 6. “The meat was really red on the inside of it. It made me feel sick. Something has to change in the kitchen, there are too many occurring incidents in the Trinity staff.”

Ronayne’s decision comes after a request for new proposals from the county over the summer.

In a statement to Scene Tuesday, Ronayne said he chose Summit out of three possible suppliers—including Edwin’s and Trinity—for the company’s ability to meet “state standards” in food quality for inmates it’s previously served. He suggested Summit could do the job better, and presumably lower complaints. (Edwin’s bid was deemed too expensive, Brandon Chrostowski told Scene last week.)

“Our goal is to provide the highest quality food services to those in our custody,” Ronayne told Scene in a statement. “The decision to replace Trinity reflects our commitment to ensuring our food service meets the nutritional and health standards expected in our jail.”

Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.