Inmate Farm

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This article was in our local Newspaper (link below). it is about an Inmate Farm located here in Marion County Florida. I drive by this farm a couple times a week, I am always impressed by how well kept it is, the gardens (vegtable) are beautiful. They have about 100 inmates working on the farm, when I drive by they are all busy.

I recently talked to a man who spent 180 days at the County Jail (OK, I don't always keep the best company), he had the oppertunity to work on the farm and he told me he really enjoyed it. The Inmates work on their own and are not chained together, some of the Inmates are allowed to grow what ever they want and allowed to try different growing methods. The former Inmate I met is now growing his own garden at home.

I belive that convicted criminals should be treated like criminals, but I think we should give them the chance to grow and learn. Besides the money that they will save the County on their food bills, the Inmates will gain a lot of confidence and pride, wich might help them when they are released back into our community. You never know your next new Homesteading neighbor may be a former worker on Marion County's Inmate Farm.

Check out the story, I hope you find it interesting as I did. http://www.ocalastarbanner.com/News/chickenfarm040802.shtml

-- Mark in N.C. Florida (deadgoatman@webtv.net), April 08, 2002

Answers

Somedays I know as many guards as inmates, nothing wrong with an open mind.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

Our county jail ran a prison truck patch that saved nearly $20,000 a year on food budget and provided all the vegetables for the inmates through "trustie" labor in the gardens. The ACLU shut it down on the grounds that it wasn't fair to the maximum security prisoners to let the trusties out in the garden. Logic like that sure makes me shake my haid like my hound dawg :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.

I retired after 10 years working as a Lt. at a Maximum security unit.The inmates grew their own vegetables and meat(beef,and pork mostly),and learned alot of farming and ranching skills.For the most part,they enjoyed the work and were more proud of their accomplishments than most adults I know.They behaved like children,with a "look what I did" kind of amazement when something went well.

Yes,they are hardened criminals,and I wouldn't want them for my neighbors....but,I will always wonder if they had been exposed to farming and ranching while they were growing up,would they still have ended up in prison...? I kind of doubt it.

-- Johna (in central TX) (marcnjohna@aol.com), April 08, 2002.


Johna,

There are a number of gardening programs for youth that support you reasoning, they are having good results using gardening to help those at risk youth stay out of the system.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.


There is a home for troubled youth near me that does the same thing with the kids. In fact, they run a whole farm, chickens, dairy and beef cattle, rabbits, etc.. The man that runs it told me that it teaches the kids a trade, feeds them, gives them a sense of accomplishment and pride, and working with the animals teaches them the relationship between gentle treatment and gentle behavior.

-- Gayle in KY (gayleannesmith@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.


I've heard of prisoners who participated in the "breaking" of mustangs for the BLM. I have also purchased bonsai plants grown and trained by inmates.

-- Susan in Michigan (cobwoman@yahoo.com), April 09, 2002.

There is a prison farm in London Ohio that has been in operation for a very long time. They have a few thousand acres of land and raise core/soybeans as well as vegtables. They pay a good portion of there food bills with the year with the farm.

-- gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), April 09, 2002.

And Gary, there's one in Kingston, Ontario as well. It also is amazingly well kept. I believe it's Frontenac Institution, and it's on the same grounds as Collins Bay Penitentiary. (That's the jail right on the shore of Lake Ontario that all the tourists driving down Bath Road think is an amusement park because it looks like a castle!!)

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), April 09, 2002.

Mark, I'm not sure that the inmates would be able to grow "anything they want", but I do know what you mean.

I think that it is a great program. Too bad all inmates are not given training, then given the "grow food if you want to eat" routine. Oh I know that wouldn't really work since they are just like other folk--some cut out for gardening with a green thumb, some not.

Here at Hutchinson, Kansas they are training the BLM horses. While it is great for the inmates, I'm just not sure it is cost effective. I didn't realize just how much cost there was to the program until a news article appeared. Now they want to double the size of the program to make it more cost effective. The area is inside of the city limits and I'm not sure that 200 to 400 horses should be so close to a heavily populated area. Still I guess if the inmates are really rehibilitated it is worth the cost.

-- Notforprint (Not@keyboard.com), April 09, 2002.


In different places, a lot of inmates work on firefighting crews as well, and people are grateful for the work they do.

I am in favor of anything that gets them doing honest work, saves the taxpayers money and helps them in their rehabilitation. Unfortunately, you also get a lot of whining from people saying that "inmates take away family wage jobs", which is a real shame.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), April 09, 2002.



personal experience, in wisconsin there is a minimum security facility(usualy inmates almost to parole/relese) they have a really nice farm , grow all organic veggies, and chickens and what not,

In southern wisconsin , inmates are used as "clean up crews" after large forest fires,

i think the innocent joy seen on the faces of many of these inmates is because they have never been taught the intrinsic values of life and having a skill, raising your own food, though at times i used to bemoan the factthat they are more expensive facilites to run, i think its a good idea,

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), April 12, 2002.


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