Feeding a Need
Correctional facilities get creative to help put food on the table for those in need
You could say the horticulture gardens at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility are well established.
For more than 15 years, women at the facility have been growing and learning to care for dozens of varieties of fruits and vegetables.
They plant seedlings early in the year, carefully tending to them until the food they bear can be harvested, and ultimately donated back to the community.
“To be in prison and to be able to donate and be part of something bigger is very rewarding,” said Sarah Verkade, a student in the horticulture program at the facility.
This year, Verkade and her fellow students added a new element to their efforts to grow and give.
For the first time this year, Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility hosted a farmers market through the summer and fall.
Tables of fresh vegetables brimmed with baskets of carrots, tomatoes and greens, ready to be carried home by facility staff.
A portion of proceeds from the Green Valley Market and other food grown at the facility is donated to Food Gatherers of Ann Arbor — a nonprofit organization that collects and distributes food to area agencies serving those in need.
In all, the facility donated nearly 11,000 pounds of produce and raised almost $2,400.
Those tending the gardens at Women’s Huron Valley are part of a larger network of growers at correctional facilities and field offices across the state giving back to feed those in need.
In 2019, facility and field office gardens donated more than 115,000 pounds of fresh produce to organizations that help put food on the table for hungry Michigan families.
That’s in addition to nearly 400 pumpkins that were also grown and donated to community groups to give children and seniors a happier Halloween.
Making of a Market
Launching the farmers market at Women’s Huron Valley wasn’t as simple as setting up tables stocked with vegetables.
Women in the horticulture program formulated a business plan, created a logo and banner, helped track money raised and thought about what to sell, said Horticulture Instructor Ellen Baron.
“We wanted to expand our curriculum to give students a diverse background when they go home,” Baron said.
There are 18 horticulture students that have volunteered to be part of the farmers market team.
Jamie Griffith, a GED teacher at Women’s Huron Valley, said the market has had a positive impact on both staff and prisoners.
“Prisoners and staff alike are all smiles,” Griffith said. “It has been a big win for improving prison culture in an unprecedented way.”
Verkade said she grew up on a farm and wanted to expand her knowledge of horticulture.
“It was a neat opportunity to learn more,” she said.
Growing to Give
Prisoners have taken great pride in the gardens they care for and the ability to give back.
Across the state, 22 of the department’s facilities have gardens and use what is grown to help others in need.
Central Michigan, Cooper Street, Lakeland, and Muskegon correctional facilities, in addition to Women’s Huron Valley, each grew and donated more than 10,000 pounds of food in 2019.
Alger, Chippewa, Gus Harrison, Ionia, Kinross, Macomb, Parnall, Richard A. Handlon, and Thumb correctional facilities, and Marquette Branch Prison and Detroit Reentry Center donated more than 1,000 pounds of food. Bellamy Creek, G. Robert Cotton and Newberry correctional facilities and Michigan Reformatory and Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center all donated more than 100 pounds of fresh food each.
The Emmet County Parole and Probation Office, in cooperation with the 57th Circuit Court and Office of Community Corrections, also had seven individuals working in its gardens, which donated 1,300 pounds of food.
Alger, Macomb, and Newberry correctional facilities, Michigan Reformatory and Marquette Branch Prison also donated dozens of pumpkins to community groups — particularly those that serve children.
Children in the Head Start program for Oakland and Livingston counties beamed as they received nearly two dozen pumpkins from Macomb Correctional Facility.
Since Macomb’s horticulture class began in 1996, the facility has donated more than 154,000 pounds of vegetables to local food banks and other nonprofit organizations, said Horticulture Instructor Michael Walendzik.
He said over the years, the reaction from prisoners in the program has always been positive.
“They are happy to contribute knowing that the end result produces a good that can be utilized in our immediate community,” Walendzik said. “They are also learning vital skills which can help them find employment. It’s a win-win all the way.”
