You'd be surprised to hear how much money jails make from commisaries. I read somewhere, that prisons are only required to provide a certain amount of calories,(not nutrition), per day, so they provide them in the cheapest way possible. For instance, a piece of bologna on 2 pieces of bread has a lot more calories than a turkey sandwhich, so the inmate gets the bologna with nothing on the side. Without the commissary, a lot of inmates would come close to starving. So, it's no wonder a lot of prison violence is centered around meals and commissary snacks. Not all prisons are the same, but a lot are. Here, at the county jail, breakfast is black coffee and a bun, and lunch is a bologna sandwhich and a cup of water...lots of calories, but no nutrition, and not very filling. If somebody is in for an extended stay, he's going to get hungry and mean. A lot of people think, 'well, it's not the Hilton, so deal with it', but I don't think starving someone for say, hot checks, unpaid tickets, or even drug trafficking, is a good idea. I'm not trying to be a bleeding heart, but the guys and gals I know who've been locked up, all say they would have starved without the extras. The jails make a lot of money, and the whole phone minute thing, is a big rip off too. JMO.