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A Better Way A sensible solution: build and profit on success
Rather than eliminate prison farms, Correctional Service Canada should be moving in the other direction – increasing the availability of such programs and widening their scope.
The first is the growing ‘green’ concern for sustainable agriculture and organic food. The recent listeriosis crisis has provided impetus for a second trend: the so-called ‘100-mile diet’ based on producing and consuming locally-grown food. From the farm gate to the processing plant, agriculture today is a business. While there will always be a need for some low-skilled labour, managing Canada’s food chain requires ever-greater knowledge and skill. We suggest a radical overhaul that would expand and reposition CSC’s farm programs as self-funding profit centres that provide inmates with both the knowledge and the skills they need to secure real realistic employment upon their release. A look at the example of one farm – the Frontenac Institution – as outlined under the ‘A Case Study’ menu tab above shows the potential of such an expansion. Institutions should move to expand and extend existing farming programs. Greater use of greenhouses could lengthen growing seasons, allowing the production of higher-value produce and of flowers and plants to stock local nurseries. Marketing of products to outside communities would be carried out in conjunction with local farmers' representatives to avoid adversely affecting local markets. There should also be an upward move into value-added products. A dairy farm could also produce cheese or other milk by-products. Where grain is grown, create a specialty bakery. Again, these products would be marketed with the advice and involvement of local small businesses and sold through their stores at market prices. Such collaborative efforts would increase and reinforce positive contact with the surrounding rural and urban populace. As well, the person-to-person contact throughout the process would also heighten the likelihood that inmates would be placed in appropriate jobs upon their release from the particular Institution. Under our plan, inmates would be taught the latest theories and practices of crop management and animal husbandry, with an emphasis on sustainable, organic, locally-orientated farming. In the winter months, such relevant courses as business practices, computer skills, accounting, crop science and basic veterinary skills could be taught. Of course, no inmate could reasonably be expected to start a business, let alone purchase a farm, on their release from a farm program. However, the narrow scope of existing farm programs has resulted in relatively few inmates being able to find work in agriculture or agri-food on their release. One object of revitalized farm programs would be to work closely with farm associations and industry to equip inmates with needed skills and then work to place them in appropriate jobs on their release. If managed and run with energy and vision, our prison farm programs could evolve into world-class models of rehabilitation based on a successful melding of a strong work ethic and leading-edge agri-business skills. As for the ‘bottom line’, boosted production and more aggressive marketing of foodstuffs to surrounding communities would see up-front investment recouped and an eventual profit stream generated. Many Conservatives unequivocally state that expanding CSC’s farm program would raise the ire of private sector producers. However, current evidence suggests otherwise. Take the case of the Kingston-area abattoir owned by local businessman Bruce Wallace. Wallace employs 10 inmates from the Pittsburgh Institution farm program. Their salaries are paid by Correctional Service Canada. The 50-odd cattle processed each week come from some 300 local beef farmers. The meat is sold to local restaurants, butcher shops and to CSC for use at its six area correctional facilities. In exchange for ‘free labour’, Wallace provides the Pittsburgh inmates highly-practical meat industry skills in an environment that fosters both self-respect and team-building. The owner notes that he is aware of a number of prisoners who have gone to work in the industry on release from the Institution. Even the government saw the value of Wallace’s partnership with Pittsburgh Institution. In mid-May, the Public Safety Minister announced that the abattoir would remain in operation and would not be forced to relocate ─ further evidence of the viability of additional job creation and training initiatives between CSC Institutions and local businesses.
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