Did you know that the Insight Garden Program (IGP) in H-Unit will be growing an organic vegetable garden that will provide organic vegetables to local non-profit organizations? If you’re like me, you’ll be pleased that something positive is happening at San Quentin that will be shared with the local community.
Now you are probably asking why we can’t eat what comes out of the garden. The answer to that is simple. There just won’t be enough to go around. So what could be better than to donate it, develop new connections in the local community and get some positive publicity for the IGP, the Stand-Up Program and San Quentin Prison?
This is part of a program enhancement of the IGP, which originally started classes in 2002 under the direction of the Insight Prison Project (IPP), and has since then become its own non-profit organization, fiscally sponsored by the Agape Foundation in San Francisco. The flower garden currently on the H-Unit yard was planted around Winter Solstice, 2003, the shortest and darkest day of the year. After a year and a half of collaborative planning with prison officials, staff and inmates, it took a mere four days for inmates and volunteers to transform a mound of mud into a 1,200 square foot organic flower garden which is now used to teach inmates about gardening, landscaping and environmental care.
Being the only non-segregated area of the H-Unit yard, the flower garden is one of the more popular gathering spots for inmates. In the program, IGP’s class participants get hands-on experience in many aspects of gardening – from pruning to planting to what organic fertilizers to use – the men of IGP do it all! But that’s only half of what the program is about. We also garden from within, dealing with and working on ourselves, hence the name Insight Garden Program.
Over the past six years, approximately 500 men have been through the program. The program intends to double that number over the next few years. In addition to the increasing number of men in the program, IGP wants to develop a sustainable and results-oriented organization that will provide much needed post-release job placement services to help men paroling to find landscaping, gardening or green jobs when they leave prison.
As with the flower garden, the proposed vegetable garden has been in the planning stages for almost two years. This new project will help men gain new skills, understand the connection between healthy food and well-being, and will provide IGP with new opportunities for funding sources.
Overall, IGP’s mission is to help rehabilitate prisoners through the process of organic gardening. By working in nature, participants learn vocational and life skills so that they can practice constructive relationships between themselves, their communities and the natural environment. The proposed vegetable garden will serve all areas of that mission, so the students will gain new skills and understanding about food, health and the natural world.
Coming in the August issue of the SQ News, an article concerning IGP’s community connections.
https://sanquentinnew.wpengine.com/young-female-offenders-donate/
https://sanquentinnew.wpengine.com/law-enforcement-prisoners-barbershop-dialogue/