meatrock

English

Etymology

From meat +‎ rock; from the food's resemblance to a piece of rock in some forms.

Noun

meatrock (plural meatrocks)

1. (slang, US, prison) A piece of highly processed mechanically separated chicken that is used as an ingredient for meals served in the US prison system.
   • 2018 November 29, Uhuru B. Rowe, Conscious Prisoner‎^[1]:

     It was originally served in the form of handmade meatball-like chunks that resemble medium sized rocks (hence the prison name “meatrock”)

   • 2021 January 15, Daniel A. Rosen, ““Let Them Eat Dog Food”: Nutrition and Health Behind Bars”, in Three Hots One Cot‎^[2]:

     The meat is usually what we call “meatrock” – actually low-grade ground chicken that says “for institutional use only” on the side of the box.

   • 2022 December 28, Cindy, “Senator Boysko Visits Virginia Prisons: “They give them $2.20 per inmate per day. My cat food is $1.25 a can, and that’s for one meal.””, in Blue Virginia‎^[3]:

     Overall, all of them, if they can get out, they want to live a quiet, peaceful life, where they have a home and can be around people they love and who love them, and to be able to do simple things like go to the grocery store, or go to the park, go on a hike, and be able to eat a meal that is not meatrock or something that looks like dog food.