6-25 FB Prison Farmers

  An all new way for the prison population of Idaho to make an impact…and this one is positive. I’m David Sparks and I’ll be right back with details. Here’s a thought. You have people in prison who are, in many cases, wasting away. Able bodied, probably a lot of pent up energy, and sitting in a jail cell. That’s not particularly productive. In the old days, they used prisoners as hard laborers on chain gangs and these days you can see Department of Corrections people cleaning up roadside litter.

 Now what about farming. Well the Idaho Department of Corrections has started a partnership with the Idaho Foodbank to grow food for the hungry. Here’s Terry Graves of the Idaho Food Bank: “About 6 acres of the available land out there is being planted and this is a pilot program. They asked us what we wanted to have planted and we decided on corn, beans, carrots and red potatoes.”

 Feedback from the prisoners who are doing the farming is that it’s a very positive experience and I’m pretty sure that Idaho’s homeless and hungry will be mighty appreciative.