Analysis of the textual data clarified different pathways between paternal incarceration and family food insecurity that included: (1) pre-incarceration experiences/lifestyles and intensified family food insecurity; (2) changes in relationships and health status; and (3) the fathers’ experiences and parental relationship quality.

..They realized you’re very well educated. This is my diploma. They didn’t know what to do with me. What do you do with a highly educated inmate?.. I really don’t need your help..I’m fine.

..They realized you’re very well educated. This is my diploma. They didn’t know what to do with me. What do you do with a highly educated inmate?.. I really don’t need your help..I’m fine.

In rare instances, a father’s incarceration had little impact on their family’s access to food, which was consistent with other research insights [ 19 ]. This was particularly the case if the father did not live with the family or did not substantially contribute to the family’s income prior to their incarceration. Finally, pre-incarceration factors such as education, social support, and prior food skills were discussed as resources that helped families be resilient to incarceration-related food insecurity.

It’s like the welfare Wednesday situation where you binge spend after you get the cheque..you binge eat when you have the money.

It’s like the welfare Wednesday situation where you binge spend after you get the cheque..you binge eat when you have the money.

In other instances, spouses discussed how their mental health struggles worsened due to financial stresses which imposed constraints on eating. They described how these constraints led to patterns of dietary restriction followed by overconsumption that became cyclical and similar to binge-eating. Other research has reported significant associations between mental ill health and disordered eating [ 48 ] and respondent’s descriptions supported the “food stamp cycle” hypothesis which suggests that binge-eating behaviors occur when access to food increases (e.g., availability of food stamps) which is then followed by periods of involuntary restriction when food resources run low [ 49 ].

We were generally able to eat whatever we wanted as a family but after (father’s name) went to jail, we had to plan meals more carefully and watch costs (before incarceration). We would eat fish which (father’s name) would catch. While he was is jail we ate no fish..(father’s name) wasn’t here to catch it or show the kids how to do this.

We were generally able to eat whatever we wanted as a family but after (father’s name) went to jail, we had to plan meals more carefully and watch costs (before incarceration). We would eat fish which (father’s name) would catch. While he was is jail we ate no fish..(father’s name) wasn’t here to catch it or show the kids how to do this.

In addition to the economic hardships, the fathers and various stakeholders also described new or intensified incarceration-related experiences of food insecurity and how this perpetuated intergenerational effects of disadvantage and marginalization. For example, one of the Aboriginal spouses described how incarceration impacted their access to traditional foods.

He came from a hard life and his family were involved with criminal activities in order to make ends meet. My son knows this and about his father being in jail. Even though dad is out we have problems….it worries me that [son’s name] will also think that crime will be an answer for money problems.

He came from a hard life and his family were involved with criminal activities in order to make ends meet. My son knows this and about his father being in jail. Even though dad is out we have problems….it worries me that [son’s name] will also think that crime will be an answer for money problems.

She (mom) made her choices. She had me when she was young. 16. I have no ill will towards her at all..I had no family support…My dad is doing time I think in the States. That is karma. Right? That is what I chalk that up to. Hopefully my kids won’t turn out the same.

She (mom) made her choices. She had me when she was young. 16. I have no ill will towards her at all..I had no family support…My dad is doing time I think in the States. That is karma. Right? That is what I chalk that up to. Hopefully my kids won’t turn out the same.

Consistent with the literature about paternal incarceration, some participants reported histories of significant economic hardship and most made reference to their experiences of childhood adversity [ 47 ]. The described adversities have been reported elsewhere to be associated with food insecurity [ 19 ].

It is widely known that health conditions, as described by respondents, arise through a complex web of interactions between genetic and environmental factors including food access [ 66 ]. This raises fundamental questions about how to shape social and health practices and policies that prevent gene-diet interactions that lead to chronic condition development. Although there is still much to be done to identify these interactions, this work is relevant to preventing and effectively managing chronic conditions and reducing health, social, and correction service-related costs.

(Daughter’s name) got diabetes and had to insulin. I think the bad diet we had to follow led to this…and now..now with the diabetes it makes things harder with diet …getting the right foods needed to keep her (blood) sugar under control is a huge problem..

(Daughter’s name) got diabetes and had to insulin. I think the bad diet we had to follow led to this…and now..now with the diabetes it makes things harder with diet …getting the right foods needed to keep her (blood) sugar under control is a huge problem..

In some instances, family members became formally diagnosed with chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, dyslipidemia), a common experience related to incarceration [ 65 ]. Often these conditions required adhering to therapeutic diets. Participants spoke about how experiences of food insecurity both seemed to lead to the diagnosis and impede their ability to manage their chronic condition.

These findings are consistent with other evidence that suggests paternal incarceration is associated with poor eating behaviors, academic and socioemotional skills deficits [ 55 57 ], antisocial and criminal behavior, internalizing symptoms, mental health problems [ 58 60 ] and drug use [ 61 ] among children whose parents have been incarcerated [ 52 62 ]. Furthermore, shared biological pathways among these behavioral (e.g., stress response), mental health (e.g., anxiety over having continued access to appropriate foods), and nutrition-related (e.g., inadequate intake of nutrients due to lack of access to health promoting foods) factors could exacerbate their food insecurity [ 63 ]. Macro-level drivers such as food-related policies (e.g., agricultural subsidies) and design of food environments (e.g., retail access to healthy foods) can enable and perpetuate a vicious cycle which relegates the family to society’s fringes and reinforce their struggles with food insecurity [ 64 ].

When (partner’s name) was in prison I was overwhelmed...lawyer’s bills, losing friends..I became severely depressed. I didn’t want to cook...so for me and [son’s name] it was a lot of meals from a can...It was not surprising that problems started happening with [son’s name]. He was acting out at school..

When (partner’s name) was in prison I was overwhelmed...lawyer’s bills, losing friends..I became severely depressed. I didn’t want to cook...so for me and [son’s name] it was a lot of meals from a can...It was not surprising that problems started happening with [son’s name]. He was acting out at school..

Several respondents discussed how the pursuit of meeting basic needs and despondency contributed to the neglect of care for both themselves and their families. Further to this, parents described how these obstacles contributed to the deterioration of their family’s health and how the added disadvantage of food insecurity worsened physical, mental, and social well-being [ 53 54 ].

These comments suggest that the relationships and consequences of incarceration-related food insecurity are bi-directional which has been reported elsewhere [ 5 51 ]. Food insecurity either worsened or became a new issue families had to face when the father was incarcerated. Furthermore, these challenges forced families to resort to criminal activities as a means to address their food insecurity. Thus, the relationships between food insecurity and incarceration appeared to be shaped by systemic factors that facilitated mutual reinforcement [ 52 ].

So I started selling contraband smokes just so I could have some money for us to have a decent life...I didn’t like doing this...but your back is up against a wall...what are ya gonna do?

So I started selling contraband smokes just so I could have some money for us to have a decent life...I didn’t like doing this...but your back is up against a wall...what are ya gonna do?

For partners that resided in smaller communities, they noted how they would try to avoid seeking out food from community-based sources such as food banks to avoid being highly visible and stigmatized. Instead, they would try to obtain alternative financial sources, including engaging in illegal activities, in order to obtain food.

I can remember once when [husband’s name] was in prison...I was stone broke... I was on E.I...so I had to go to the food bank…so what happens is the stuff I get from the food bank was white sugar, canned fruit...crap that I couldn’t use. One of the things that I’m very conscious about in terms of prison is the lack of choice, the lack of empowerment around defining your own existence and that’s the same around food…

I can remember once when [husband’s name] was in prison...I was stone broke... I was on E.I...so I had to go to the food bank…so what happens is the stuff I get from the food bank was white sugar, canned fruit...crap that I couldn’t use. One of the things that I’m very conscious about in terms of prison is the lack of choice, the lack of empowerment around defining your own existence and that’s the same around food…

Adding to the economic burdens associated with paternal incarceration, the partners of the fathers reported experiences of significant social network disruptions with family, friends, and community that also placed constraints on food access. They described periods of time where foods consumed were insufficient, low quality, or undesirable. They also discussed how they worried about where to get food and felt forced into obtaining foods in socially unacceptable ways or consuming foods which did not meet personal standards of acceptability.

While in prison I had no real sources of income. You can do work while in jail but they pay less than minimum wage. So yeah..I had nothing to contribute to family finances..[Wife’s name] was on her own..making sure the kids had a roof over their head and food on the table.

While in prison I had no real sources of income. You can do work while in jail but they pay less than minimum wage. So yeah..I had nothing to contribute to family finances..[Wife’s name] was on her own..making sure the kids had a roof over their head and food on the table.

..basically what you’re doing is that someone commits a crime in their home community and they get extracted from the community where they live, they get all their ties, their family, their friends, their social status gets severed and they get pulled out and get socialized with a large population of offenders...so they get basically taken from any pro-social healthy environment... for a long stage of time.

..basically what you’re doing is that someone commits a crime in their home community and they get extracted from the community where they live, they get all their ties, their family, their friends, their social status gets severed and they get pulled out and get socialized with a large population of offenders...so they get basically taken from any pro-social healthy environment... for a long stage of time.

..if finances are an issue then no doubt food insecurity becomes an issue. So as soon as that’s an issue then there is a whole host of problems… their social support system is a problem…they don’t leave all of a sudden and have a bunch of new friends that are going to allow for a new life.

..if finances are an issue then no doubt food insecurity becomes an issue. So as soon as that’s an issue then there is a whole host of problems… their social support system is a problem…they don’t leave all of a sudden and have a bunch of new friends that are going to allow for a new life.

Prior to incarceration, most fathers contributed economically to family life, were actively involved in parenting their children, and family food insecurity was not perceived to be an issue. Participants identified incarceration-related factors such as trying to maintain housing security, loss of social connections, loss of work, changes in social assistance, accumulation of legal and household debts, and inability to provide financially for their families which impacted on both economic and food security [ 50 ]. Feelings of shame, failure, and inadequacy and how these were motivational barriers in seeking healthy foods were often highlighted.

3.1.3. The Fathers’ Experiences and Parental Relationship Quality

Participants shared reports of strained family relationships, including challenges with maternal parenting. These issues were heightened by factors such as the geographical proximity of the father to his family and the type and length of prison sentence. For example, a father who was institutionalized in a province where his family was not residing stated:

..I never saw them…for almost a year. Which is critical for two little boys right? A whole year with no family. Not as hard on me as it was on those two boys. You know “where is daddy?” and they don’t really understand right? It was the distance. The cost. At the time I was in jail…I had no income… and they don’t understand. (F#3)

Fathers described how these circumstances lead to few or no visits with their family and the opportunities that could occur with those visits to share experiences and connections around food. Furthermore, circumstances which lead to disruptions in family meals could impact on children’s biopsychosocial well-being [ 67 ]. Within the participant narratives, contextual factors such as facility differences which impacted on the father’s experiences and relationships with food were also highlighted.

When I was in high security access to food was dictated by the cafeteria. Healthwise I wasn’t doing great…very depressed. I had no control over what I could eat. When I moved into prisons where we could make our own food my relationship with food got better. I could choose what I wanted to buy from the prison’s store. I felt less like a degenerate. (F#7)

As others have suggested, choices about food in correctional facilities are different than choices about food in the community [ 68 ]. Meal choices are planned by facility staff and those who are incarcerated typically do not provide input about foods offered or eating schedules. Similar to other findings [ 20 ], respondents discussed how access to appropriate foods would enable them to manage their health and to be physically and mentally prepared for reintegration. In extreme cases, some discussed how the system of food provision in correctional facilities negatively shaped their relationships in food. Examples were described of how limited food access during lock downs and witnessing violent fights over prized food items made them associate food with traumatic experiences. Many also discussed how correctional system fiscal constraints that often led to food budget cuts contributed to taking the pleasure out of eating and losing a sense of control over food choices. As others have noted [ 69 ], perceptions about inadequate food within correctional facilities can fuel frustration, humiliation, and deterioration in health status. This, in turn, can increase risk for rule violations, violence [ 70 ], and recidivism [ 71 ] which impact the management of correctional facilities.

So they gone regional [centralized food production—to save money. There is fewer staff..(The prisoners) are not happy. It is one of the few things that get them through the day—the food—and now they see that as being taken away from them. This, among other things that happen in prison, beats them down... (Stakeholder; Corrections System; SC#14)

Although respondents acknowledged they were low on the social hierarchy, they discussed how being at this tier also had put them in positions of variable access to food while incarcerated and that this had carryover effects during reintegration.

…in prisons there is a hierarchy and food certainly played into this. At mealtimes certain inmates got better treatment...better food. Certain inmates would be chosen to work in the kitchen and had more access to food. (F#9)

In some cases, social locations such as age, ethnicity, and incarceration experiences influenced their positioning within the carceral hierarchy and either facilitated or impeded food access.

Some were more likely to have less food available to them. Like the younger ones...they don’t get full. Others may have food brought in for them or be given money by family to use for canteen. Food was used as a commodity on the inside. Some would beg for food from others. Others would steal food. (F#5)

..so you get a certain amount of respect for going through the maxes and what not. I couldn’t care a less. I didn’t care about that…And these guys right would like come and sit at the back table (at meals).and ask..Do you need this? I am just like no it is all good. I’ll just sit with the natives. (F#3)

While most discussed food insecurity-related challenges, some noted that being in correctional facilities could provide opportunities to positively influence their eating experiences (e.g., learned food skills) and foster food security during reintegration:

Some of them have been involved in culinary arts programs. Some guys develop niches where they can maybe bake. So in exchange for baking the other guys will get the ingredients. ..Things like this can help them when they get out. (Stakeholder; Reintegration; SR#3)

While he was in there he actually learned how to cook. Even got his FoodSafe. (WFI#4)

Many made reference to how knowledge about health, food, and CSC policies helped to mitigate issues related to appropriate food access. One spoke at length about how he studied policies and prisoner’s rights in depth in order to lobby for better foods.