America's Locavores, Locked Up

You might not have seen the Corrigan-Radgowski Farms label on produce in your nearby grocery store. That's because the tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers the farm produces aren't intended for commercial sale. And yet their impact is reaching beyond the grocery shelf — and, in fact, far beyond the original prison greenhouses in which such produce is nurtured.

Last month, Greg Plotkin of Change.org's Sustainable Food blog wrote about how U.S. prisons are cultivating a new generation of farmers. In Florida, the state prison system is collaborating with the University of Florida's West Florida Research and Education, and teaching prisoners how to grow their own food. In the San Francisco County Jail, prisoners have grown fresh vegetables for years, both for their own consumption and to donate to housing projects and senior centers. (It's produce so local that even Alice Waters might not scorn it in her kitchen.)

And at Corrigan-Radgowski prison in Connecticut, prisoner farmers produced fully 5,300 pounds of usable produce in 2008, including 50 pounds of herbs and spices. For a state that last year spent $17.5 million to feed its 18,300 prisoners, the cost-savings potential is very real. (In Florida, during the first quarter of 2010 alone, the prison farming program saved taxpayers $60,000.) Small wonder in these cash-strapped times that Connecticut's Corrections Commissioner, Brian Murphy, is asking each of the state's 18 prisons to build or expand a garden this summer.

They're not exactly victory gardens, but they can do more than save the state money — for prisoners, they're an opportunity to learn skills, and scrape together a better shot at life on the outside once they leave. According to prisoner Wilfred Maynard, who's serving an 18-month sentence for driving under the influence, "This is the best job in the prison, no doubt," Maynard said. "We get a little taste of freedom out here and we get to utilize our days, and give something back."

It also means better nutrition: steamed zucchini, eggplant parmesan, strawberries. That's no small thing: As Greg writes, one study of 231 British prisoners found that those taking nutritional supplements were 26% less likely to violate prison policies.

The prison's warden reports that prisoners grow all the flowers used in the facility's landscaping. What's more, he says, he's also seen a drop in violence among prisoners who are assigned to work in the garden. It keeps them busy and productive, he says: "Some of these guys haven't seen a fresh vegetable in 15, 20 years."

Photo Credit: that goatskin bicycle moment