Prison Gardens: Healthy Work for Today, Skills for Tomorrow

Tri-State Local Food SummitFebruary 11th, 2017Scott KoepkeAlice Topaloff

1) Who we are.2) Making the case for gardening in prison.3) Stories from the field.

Introduction

Making the case for gardening in prison

Mental health• Approximately half of prison and jail inmates meet

criteria for “substance abuse or dependence”.• > 50% of women in state prisons and local jails

report having been physically and/or sexually abused in the past

• 60% of inmates at ICIW are taking prescribed psychotropic medications.

Gardening as horticulture therapy.

Making the case for gardening in prison

Physical health • The rates of high blood pressure and diabetes

nearly doubled between 2004 and 2012• The majority of prisoners (74%) and jail inmates

(62%) were overweight, obese, or morbidly obese.

Gardening for access to fresh fruits and vegetables + physical activity.

Social health• Inmates’ lives are scheduled.• Design and manage the garden/farm. • Connect with family members (US: 65% report

being mothers to children under 18)

Gardening as something to have control of.

Making the case for gardening in prison

Making the case for gardening in prison

Community health• Most will go back to communities• Prison community health• Donations to local pantries

Gardening as training (gardening, job and life skills)

In the U.S., we:• Incarcerate more than any other country.• Recidivism rates: 68% in the three years

following release.

Before getting to the fun stuff…

Juvenile detentionOakdaleGrow Johnson county

Scott

Alice

Iowa examples

Get involved – volunteer, hire.Be aware of incarceration in the U.S..

Conclusion

The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander [BOOK]13th, Ava Duvernay [MOVIE]

(google: growing gardens in prison)

Jake Cronin (2011) The Path to Successful Reentry: The Relationship Between Correctional Education, Employment and Recidivism , Institute of Public Policy, Truman Policy Research.

http://ipp.missouri.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/the_path_to_successful_reentry.pdf

 Madison L. Gates and Robert K. Bradford,(2015) the Impact of Incarceration on Obesity: Are Prisoners with Chronic Diseases Becoming Overweight and Obese during their Confinement? Journal of Obesity, Volume 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/532468 Maruschak, Laura M., Marcus Berzofsky, Dr.P.H., and Jennifer Unangst. (2015) Medical Problems of State and Federal Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2011–12. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mpsfpji1112.pdfLawson, W. (2007) Fighting crime with nutrition: Is a poor diet to blame for crime? Research shows it could be. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200305/fighting-crime-nutrition Geoffrey Godbey (2009) Outdoor Recreation, Health, and Wellness: Understanding and enhancing the Relationship. Resources for the future http://www.rff.org/documents/RFF-DP-09-21.pdf

Additional resources