A Conversation With Sarah Patterson of Lettuce Grow

I recently had the opportunity to have a long conversation with Sarah Patterson of LettuceGrow.org. This innovative program with its roots in Oregon has the potential to grow into a national movement. OK I'll quit with the puns now, because this unique approach to inmate horticulture programs has more than proven itself in the Oregon Department of Corrections.

In a nutshell it has taken the standard inmate horticulture program and turned it into a certification program with the local university agricultural extension office "Master Gardener" certification program. The Oregon program provides fresh vegetables for the institution food service operation, producing a healthier, less expensive diet.

In addition to the produce, inmates are involved in a 400 hour, nationally recognized certification program. Graduates of the program learn skills they can take back to agriculture, plant nursuries, or their own backyard garden.

You can learn more about this innovative program at www.lettucegrow.org and hear a live presentation by Sarah at this year's National Symposium on Sustainability in Corrections.

Academia Where Are You??

As a correctional practitioner for some 40 years I have had the opportunity to watch the profession evolve in a number of ways, most of them positive. The advent of accreditation, objective classification systems, unit management, etc., are all excellent examples of how the corrections profession has responded to new challenges.

In every instance these changes have been studied, dissected, and tested through academic study by institutions of higher learning. the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and some foundations have provided incentives to colleges and universities to study, evaluate and report on each of these then emerging trends.

So where is the support for sustainability? I beleive the evolution of sustainable and "green" practices is the next major step in the corrections profession. It does all the things we say are important; it saves money, has the potential to train inmates; and improves the enviornment thus the institution's relationship with the community, yet so far research on this emerging phenomenon has been limited.

With the exception of a couple of programs, Evergreen College in Washington state and the University of Arizona come to mind, the academic community has been silent. It is time, whether supported by the alphabet soup agencies in Washington or not, for academic institutions to begin to introduce the topic of sustainability into their curriculua.

It's obvious that corrections will continue to compete for fewer and fewer dollars as goverments work to overcome deficits. Those systems that have embraced sustainability have discovered that they can not only save money but in some instances create new funding streams (see the interview of Commissioner Bruce Lemmon of Indiana and our latest webinar that includes a presentation by the National Correctional Industries Associations' Wil Heslop).

Academic programs can no longer focus exclusively on the social sciences to develop tomorrow's correctional managers but should also be including the physical sciences, business and similar courses to provide a well rounded education.

At GreenPrisons.org we invite academic programs to join us in sharing what they are doing to better prepare tommorow's correctional leaders. If your university or criminal justice program has begun to include courses on sustainability or has partnered with a correctional agency to study their efforts, let us know. Academia has a significant role to play in promoting good sustainable practices in correctional management.

Academia where are you???