‘Inmates sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment’
told the Media that prisoners are managing livestock as well as crops.
“From the prisons’ paddocks to the prisoners’ plates, we’re getting more than a million apples, more than a million loaves of bread, millions of litres of milk,” he said.
“We’re also seeing 80 per cent of the beef that is being used come from the prisoners themselves.”
ON its website, the Christian Science Monitor has pointed out that inmates are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment.
According to CSM, Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI) in Salem has run a garden program at its facility since 2008, when it joined Oregon’s 13 other state prisons with farm-to-table programs, where master gardeners from Oregon State University teach inmates how to grow and harvest fruits and vegetables in greenhouses.
Between 2012 and 2015, CSM states that Oregon state prisoner-gardeners raised more than 600 000 pounds of produce for nearly 14 000 inmates.
Furthermore, CSM points out that administrators often opt for the cheapest items available to feed prison populations, but instead of saving money, they’re usually spending more.
Oregon taxpayers were spending almost $100 million a year on inmate health care costs, seven times the general fund spending on the state Education Department, The
Oregonian reported in 2011. CSM says that the potential savings for taxpayers in health costs from providing inmates with highquality food cannot be overstated.
“It behoves us to try and keep [inmates] as healthy as possible. Not only can we keep our healthcare costs down if we have healthy individuals, but it can also save taxpayer money growing some food ourselves onsite,” reads a statement from CSM.
Important
Moreover, CSM reveals that the nutrition offered by fresh food is important, but that’s not the end.
The more power people have over their well-being, the better for themselves and the taxpayer, correctional facility, which teaches about 20 inmates how to tend a garden. On three-quarters of an acre, the prisoner gardeners spend time harvesting and sorting through ripe crops, picking what’s edible, and discarding the rest.
The produce is then served in the prison cafeteria, which, according to CSM, is the first time in years many inmates have eaten fresh food.