UNITE HERE Local 11 Releases Letter Urging Greene County Ohio Board of Commissioners and Captain Tony Buschur to Consider Aramark’s Problematic Track Record in Prison Food Service and Award Contract to Alternate Provider

UNITE HERE Local 11 Releases Letter Urging Greene County Ohio Board of Commissioners and Captain Tony Buschur to Consider Aramark’s Problematic Track Record in Prison Food Service and Award Contract to Alternate Provider

UNITE HERE Local 11 released a letter today from Local 11 Co-president Susan Minato urging Captain Tony Buschur, Greene County Ohio Board of Commissioners and Ohio elected stakeholders to weigh Aramark’s performance in other state and US correctional facilities in its pending RFP for food service at the Greene County Jail, Miami Valley Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, and Juvenile Detention Center and to select an alternate provider that will be better able to fulfill the needs of Greene County.

The letter states: “Dear Captain Buschur and Greene County Board of Commissioners Gould, Koogler, and Mays: We write regarding your July 1, 2026 RFP for food service at Greene County Jail, Miami Valley Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, and Juvenile Detention Center to apprise you of our concerns regarding Aramark’s history with carceral food service, both in Ohio prisons and in departments of corrections across the U.S. A recently published report on Aramark’s performance in prisons Private Food, Public Harm, co-authored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Coalition for Carceral Nutrition, is especially timely and pertinent to your efforts.”

The letter continues, “UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing over 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona who work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers, and airports, including hundreds of workers employed by Aramark. In an effort to better understand how Aramark is performing under the many contracts the company holds in the state of Arizona, including with the state prison system, we have developed serious concerns about Aramark’s record in carceral food service.

“Aramark has drawn criticism around the country for its prison food service and has a long history of allegedly providing substandard food in prisons. Civil rights advocates and formerly incarcerated individuals have alleged tainted food, food substitutions, and other health and safety issues.”

The company’s record in Ohio reflects similar challenges. The letter goes on to say that in 2017, “the Ohio state Inspector General found that Aramark overcharged the state and ordered Aramark to repay over $57,000; the investigation also highlighted $37,682.73 in payments to Aramark for expenses whose reimbursement was not included under the terms of the original contract. In addition, the state fined Aramark $272,300 in 2014 in connection with contract violations including sanitation issues, food shortages, and employee misconduct including inappropriate relationships between employees and inmates.”

The letter also informs stakeholders that “Aramark lost its contract with Mississippi DOC in 2021 after inmates alleged that food was often ‘spoiled, rotten, molded or undercooked’ and that portions were allegedly too small. In 2015, the state of Michigan terminated its three-year contract a year early following allegations of unapproved menu substitutions, unsanitary conditions, and employee misconduct.”

UNITE HERE Local 11 is a labor union representing more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona that work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers and airports.

Jordan Fein | jfein@unitehere11.org | 312-576-5048

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