The PBS special ‘The Meaning of Food’ shows various segments on wedding food, funeral food, cultural food and even a segment on prison food. Specifically, the last meal for inmates on death row.
One of the inmates was assigned to prepare these requests. At first he resisted. He had no chef experience and the thought of making the last meal for death row inmates was, in his words, creepy.
The typical meals were hamburgers, fries, steak or lobster. The chef started putting himself in the mood of the recipients of these meals. Why, he wondered, would someone want buttered beans, when there were so many other options? He started
preparing the food with more feeling and empathy. What if that were his brother?
There have been two women executed who he prepared the last meal for. The one that
stands out for me is Karla Faye Tucker. She found a bible in the prison, started reading it and learned about forgiveness. In one of her last interviews, she stated she knew her spirit would go on living after the lethal injection. Isn’t it amazing her last meal request was live food? She wanted a peach, a banana, a nectarine, a cucumber and a garden salad. And what’s really amazing is that, even though the food was beautifully prepared and served on a pink plate, she decided to fast before her death.
While the other inmates were eating mostly dead animals, this woman chose live food. Karla Faye Tucker made a statement to me without saying a word. Even though I don’t eat 100% live food, I believe the more we eat raw, live food, the more it has an effect on our spirituality. It’s food planted, grown, harvested and eaten with the least amount of suffering.