Federal prisoners deserve food that doesn't make them sick.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is quietly exploring plans to hand off food service, commissary, and medical care to private contractors. That means companies whose bottom line depends on cutting costs, not caring for and feeding people adequately.

We know exactly what that looks like. A new report — Private Food, Public Harm — documents over 500 lawsuits against Aramark Correctional Services, the country's dominant prison food contractor, spanning facilities across 17 state's corrections agencies. The report, drawing on peer-reviewed studies, interviews, and litigation analysis, finds that privatized food served in correctional settings is routinely inadequate in quality, quantity, safety, and nutrition. When profit is the motive, real people suffer.

Now there are signs the federal Bureau of Prisons may be next. Congress has oversight authority. We're asking them to use it.

Tell your member of Congress: before the Bureau of Prisons outsources one more institutional function, demand full transparency, independent scrutiny, and a public accounting of what this means for the people inside.

This action is organized by the Carceral Nutrition Project and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, co-authors of Private Food, Public Harm.