&gt;&gt;the next thing would be to feed the prisoners with bread and water<p>Sadly, things somewhat close to this already exist.  A common &quot;tough on crime&quot; statement goes something like &quot;well, they&#x27;re getting 3 hot meals a day&quot;.<p>In Texas, right now, many of the prisons give prisoners 2 meals a day on weekends instead of 3...supposedly because staffing it too low to serve 3.