Prisoners Feed the Hungry
Published August 23, 2009 @ 05:57PM PT
As hunger spreads, many states are relying increasingly on inmates for farming, "gleaning," and food bank assistance. Prisoner assistance with stocking food bank warehouses, picking food from fields that might otherwise rot, or even planning and harvesting produce occurs through formal employment programs that states run mostly for non-violent, short-term offenders. Free prison labor is a godsend for stretched food banks and state budgets alike, and prisoners gain needed work skills that may prove useful when they are released.
The article is very positive in terms of this skills-for-food exchange. Assuming - and this could be a big if - that the prisoners are treated well in these manual labor programs, the examples of prisoner assistance and food bank gratitude from Ohio to Texas are a refreshing contrast to the reality of overcrowded, militarized, segregated prisons nationwide. Institutions that we've starved of resources so desperately that prisoner training programs have been slashed left and right, contributing to growth of repeat offenders who languish on the inside and can't cope on the outside. Please use the revolving door to your left, sir.
For the prisoners participating in these farming and food bank programs, I wonder how many of them have ever picked up a bag of food from a local bank, in addition to packing them up now. Here's wishing them some success in translating what they've learned as they've done their time to fruitful employment and steady wages when they're out. And many thanks to the incarcerated around the country who are helping us fight the scourge of hunger.
(Boxes of potatoes at the San Francisco Food Bank by a tree is nice)
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Comments (2)
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Author
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Leigh is a PhD candidate in urban planning at MIT, and a consultant on U.S. Gulf Coast recovery. She sits on the Board of the Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation in Boston, and has worked with non-profits, foundations and local governments on policies and programs aimed at reducing urban poverty and inequality.
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We employ non violent prisoners at our food bank and are extremely grateful for their help. Many have been well skilled and have even volunteered for work beyond our normal sorting of food.
This summer we also created grants for community groups and various other youth garden clubs to grow food and donate to their local food pantries. One of the recipiants of the grant was a group of prisoners growing food in a garden in the county jail.
Posted by Jeremy Keith Hammond on 08/24/2009 @ 09:36AM PT
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this is one expression of how this nation has come to understand that reform and self control can take you a long way!
Posted by Aaron Shaw on 08/25/2009 @ 09:24AM PT
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