The State of Tennessee Cook/Chill Production Center is located on the grounds of the Old State Prison in Nashville. This USDA approved facility is 93,000 square feet and capable of producing 21,000,000 meals a year on a single shift, five days a week.

Currently, the facility is preparing and distributing food supplies for several State Agencies. They are the Departments of Corrections, Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities, Children Services and Education.

Using "state of the art" cook/chill equipment the facility produces soups, sauces, gravies, and casseroles in 400 gal. kettles. Whole meats such as beef top rounds and pork loins are prepared in cook/tanks. The above products have a shelf life of approximately six weeks when held at a temperature of 28-32 degrees. Bakery items such as biscuits, sheet cakes, cornbread, brownies, and muffins are prepared in our bakery, frozen and then shipped with our other products once a week to our 18 prisons, 6 hospitals, 4 children centers and 4 schools across the state.

The State of Tennessee Cook/Chill Production Center is capable of providing prepared products to other Federal, State and Local Institutions including hospital, prisons, and school districts. Tours are provided to prospective clients on a regular basis.

Tennessee Comprehensive Food Service Program (Cook-Chill) is responsible for the proper procurement, preparation, storage, and transport of prepared foods and pass-thru items to our user agencies. This service is provided to Department of Corrections, Children Services, Mental Health/Development Disabilities and Special Education facilities. This program provides their services to 31 facilities across the state. Annually, this represents over 21 million meals.

This facility is USDA approved and is governed accordingly.

Three master menus which are developed by our user agencies are used as a guideline for determining which food items to purchase and the specifications. In addition, all master menus are evaluated to insure they are nutritionally adequate for the intended clientele and age groups.