Inmate-operated Mobile Kitchen

As a former employee of a large state institution, I’ve always been impressed by inmate-operated mobile kitchen units for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. I’m not alone. Here’s a quote from Meredith Spangler, a dispatcher on the Stephens Fire, near Colfax, California, in August 2004:

At 1900 hours, I reported in for my shift. My partner and I took turns eating from the Mobile Kitchen. The food was very, very good and I ate more than I should have, despite my original reluctance to eat food prepared by convicts (I am primarily a police dispatcher, after all).

Although I can’t say with any accuracy, the kitchen that served the Stephens Fire may have been Mobile Kitchen Unit-45 from the Growlersburg Conservation Camp in Georgetown, California. The Growlersburg MKU was the closest to the fire and, as such, would’ve responded quickly.