Julie Green paints final meal requests from death row inmates onto ceramic plates. She calls her project, The Last Supper. So far she has completed 450 plates and plans to paint 50 more each year until capital punishment is abolished in the US.  

A Google search for “last meals death row” came up with 375,000 results. Morbid fascination with those who are on death row evidently extends to their favorite foods. A serial killer seems even more ominous when you learn he or she wants a cheeseburger, shake and fries at the end.

In practice, inmates can request anything they would like for a final meal but many states limit it to what can be prepared on site.

Green believes last meal requests can offer a lot of clues about the personality, background and economic level of inmates. And that in turn, leads to questions about failures in the judicial system. “There is a lot of red meat, few lobsters, no sushi and no Godiva chocolate.”

The Last Supper offers a lot of food for thought during Holy Week.