Prison Produce, California Markets
Picture a prison lunch tray. Maybe not something you'd normally associate with California agriculture.
But at California State Prison, Solano, that tray might include fresh bell peppers, pears, radishes, mandarins, or other California-grown produce.
According to an Ag Alert from the California Farm Bureau, that's thanks to a program called Harvest of the Month, which is connecting California farmers with the state's largest food purchaser, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The partnership, which includes Impact Justice and the University of California's Nutrition Policy Institute, supplies California-grown fruits and vegetables to prisons throughout the state.
The effort also helps California meet a state requirement that at least 60 percent of food purchased by state institutions be grown or produced in California.
What started in just three prisons in 2023 has expanded to all 30 adult prisons, serving roughly 90,000 incarcerated people. CDCR says it has purchased $2.7 million worth of California-grown produce through the program.
And for participating growers, it has created an important new market opportunity.
In nationwide surveys conducted by Impact Justice, more than half of formerly incarcerated people reported they were “rarely or never” served fresh fruits and vegetables while in prison.
