I listened to Frank Zappa’s album Broadway the Hard Way an awful lot in college, so no wonder confinement loaf popped back into my head. According to the song, it’s “bean by-products compressed into a loaf, which is administered to problem prisoners. Their diet will be a slice of ‘Confinement Loaf’ and a cup of water, and it seems to mellow them out right away. So my question is: How long before ‘Confinement Loaf’ appears in United States High Schools?”

Similar loaves seem to pop up in the news from time to time, here’s a few:

“The Loaf” at Fairfax County Detention Center
“For those looking for an unusual holiday snack, or perhaps merely an alternative to fruitcake, The Loaf consists of: 120 slices of wheat bread, 25 cups grated nondairy cheese, 10 cups raisins, 4 cups vegetable oil, 15 cups grated carrots, 15 cups well-drained spinach, 60 cups vegetarian beans, 8 cups tomato puree, 15 cups nondairy powdered milk, 12 cups instant potatoes, and 1 pound brown and 1 cup white sugar.
Mix. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Serves 60.”
Source Like It Or Lump It; Jail Officials Treat Media to Meatless Loaf Given Sniper Suspect; [FINAL Edition] Paul Farhi. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Dec 21, 2002. pg. C.01

“The Loaf” New York (prisons unspecified, but including Southport Correctional Facility)
“The ultimate discipline for incorrigible prisoners is three one-pound loaves a day made of flour, milk, yeast, sugar and lesser amounts of margarine, salt and shredded carrots and potatoes. Plus, there’s a side order of cabbage. One cup, raw. And water.”
Source What’s Worse Than Solitary Confinement? Just Taste This Matthew Purdy. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Aug 4, 2002. pg. 1.27

Other factoids from this same article “In Texas and Pennsylvania, food cooked into a loaf is used as a security measure for inmates who throw trays or utensils.” and “The prison system has done what it can with the loaf. A few years ago, nutritionists changed the recipe to lighten the loaf, adding white flour instead of whole wheat and adding margarine. The reviews have not been raves, but the cuisine was once even crueler. Said one prison official, ”There used to be liver added to it.” ”

“The Loaf” Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center
“Take a handful of dehydrated potato flakes. Mix with a quarter-pound of finely grated imitation cheese. Fold in 8 ounces of powdered skim milk, some raisins, raw carrots and tomato paste, add six slices of whole wheat bread, 2 cups of Great Northern beans and a can of spinach.
Knead it into the shape of a meatloaf and bake it. Forty-five minutes later, you have a “special management meal” — one of the latest tools used by Maryland prison wardens to keep inmates in line.”
Source Misbehave, and you’ll get food for thought; [Fourth Edition] Laura Barnhardt. Seattle Times. Seattle, Wash.: Apr 7, 2002. pg. A.12
Also noted in this article “In California, inmates call it the “brick.” In other places it’s known as “Nutraloaf.”
In Pennsylvania prisons, the “breakfast loaf” contains prunes, eggs, toast, hash browns, bacon and orange juice. And in Texas, misbehaving inmates are given “food loaf,” a breadlike substance made up of the previous day’s leftovers.”