KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather SportsTexas drops prison inmates' weekend lunch

KHOU -- To cuts costs, Texas has stopped serving lunch on the weekend to prison inmates, the New York Times reported Thursday.

According to the report, about 23,000 inmates throughout Texas are eating two meals a day on Saturday and Sunday instead of three.

"This was a cost-savings measure which does not impact the inmates' daily caloric and nutritional intake. Instead of serving three meals on weekends at those facilities, we are serving brunch and dinner. Those two meals offer the same caloric and nutritional value as the three meals served during the week," said Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

According to the Times, the meal reductions were put in place to help reduce $2.8 million in food-related expenses from the 2011 fiscal year budget of the state's prison agency.