How Atlanta Is Turning Ex-Cons into Urban Farmers

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/12/06/food-policy-incarceration-young-people-atlanta-222758

by rmason • 8 years ago

134 42 8 years ago

rmason• 8 years ago

What I really liked about this article is that this idea looks like it could be applied just about anywhere. What I think the folks in Atlanta need to do next is to produce a manual that shares what they've learned, what works and what doesn't.

Then you could realistically launch in other cities like Detroit that appears to be tailor made for this type of program.

mlinksva• 8 years ago

Similar program in Oakland, California http://plantingjustice.org/

p1itopre• 8 years ago

Yet another. West coast I think. http://www.daveskillerbread.com/secondchances/

bilbo0s• 8 years ago

To be fair, they probably learned it from Detroit. It's just a lot less formal in Detroit than the program they put together in Atlanta. And it's done more to put food on the table by necessity in Detroit rather than as a sort of public works kind of thing.

durkie• 8 years ago

Atlantan here. I got a bottle of their hot sauce with my CSA and it's really good. I'm not normally a big vinegar-sauce guy, but their recipe has lavender in it and it's pleasantly funky. Recommended!

uxp100• 8 years ago

Ooh, I love the smell of lavender, but I've only had it in desert foods, which didn't work for me (lavender and lemon cake really rubbed me the wrong way.) I've never even thought of lavender in more savory food.

40acres• 8 years ago

Such an awesome program and a great way to tackle multiple tough problems (how to reduce recidivism rates; how to solve the food desert problem in urban areas; how to improve the health & nutrition of the black community) with one solution.

Programs like this really give me hope, I wish there were more incentives from the government to spark innovations like this; monolithic solutions like food stamps and medicaid are strong programs that I support, but on the other end I'd like to see more funding for "micro-service" programs like this that solve issues on a census tract scale.

abledon• 8 years ago

This is one of the most positive articles I've read all year. This program looks so powerful as a community driver. I can't wait to see what will change in the next 20 years if this keeps growing. The picture of people doing yoga was great. I'm not interested in churches as a community event, but if my town had a movement like this I'd definitely volunteer if it was accessible.

atlfarmers• 8 years ago

I’m curious as to how they manage rival gang factions. In the first picture alone I noticed three gang signs. Perhaps they stick to their own groups? Not sure but would be interesting to know how that works.

latchkey• 8 years ago

That stood out to me as well. Palm inward on the peace sign is considered offensive to some and the looks on the faces of the guys with the gang signs do not look happy at all.

nimbius• 8 years ago

disclosure: I am a former inmate at a regional detention center in the midwest. I work as an engine mechanic now.

Prison quality varies dramatically around the country. Some prisons are only interested in turning a profit or keeping the lights running, so youll be scrubbing dishes and floors for "shit tickets" and soap. These places are miserable. the people who work at these places are equally miserable. they barely earn more than you. These places serve no purpose but to make shareholders rich. they only make money so long as you are there.

Good, state run prisons, have every incentive in the world to offer competent education in farming, machining, or trade (part of what I learned.) A good prison can help heal your soul, and learn about yourself.

The real challenge isnt getting ex-convicts to work, its getting employers to hire them. Since in the US youre legally required to disclose your former convictions and felonies, most ex-convicts are barred from ever rejoining the workforce (or society for that matter.) Its biblical retribution.

convicts arent evil demons. Most of the circumstances that landed them in prison would really surprise you. Entrepreneurship might just be the only way to break out of the sorry cycle of unemployment, and I for one really hope Atlanta turns this into something sustained.

klipt• 8 years ago

For-profit prisons are one of the worst ideas ever, along with for-profit hospitals and for-profit universities.

BjoernKW3• 8 years ago

With each of these institutions it's not so much a problem of being run for profit but rather one of misaligned incentives.

Commercially run prisons where the operators get paid based on a lack of recidivism in former inmates rather than the time those inmates spend at the facility could help with alleviating some of the problems with the current prison system in the US.

akulbe• 8 years ago

This isn't biblical retribution. In the Bible, there are consequences for crime, for sure… but there are also the concepts of restitution and restoration.

You weren't punished forever. Forgiveness existed.

You weren't in debt forever. There was an end in sight.

Look up "Jubilee".

IF ONLY we had that today.

I think the only thing coming close to this concept has to do with your credit history, and things falling off after 7 years.

PavlovsCat• 8 years ago

The possible redemption from the predicament of irreversibility - of being unable to undo what one has done - is the faculty of forgiving. The remedy for unpredictability, for the chaotic uncertainty of the future, is contained in the faculty to make and keep promises. Both faculties depend upon plurality, on the presence and acting of others, for no man can forgive himself and no one can be bound by a promise made only to himself.

-- Hannah Arendt

Fjolsvith2• 8 years ago

Jubilee is enacted in the current Bankruptcy code.

Fjolsvith2• 8 years ago

Check out the website, 70millionjobs.com for employment as a convicted felon.

Also, you are not legally required to disclose your former convictions, unless you are asked. It is smart to do so, though.

chadAnon69• 8 years ago

hopefully the prison reform bill helps

Although an interesting though I've had is that in the future people might get sent to jail on purpose for a non-violent offense because they'll essentially educate you while providing free room and board. There was a 60 minutes episode on an inmate who essentially was able to educate himself enough about the law to help appeal other convicts sentences and he became a lawyer when he got out.

I know if I was homeless I would consider it

elcomet• 8 years ago

That's why free education is important. It's crazy that people would go to prison on purpose to get it.

harlanji• 8 years ago

I joke about this. 3 years ago I was giving conference talks, now I am seemingly chronically unemployed and homeless in Silicon Valley, working odd jobs (eg. Christmas tree lot, trench digging). Jail sounds nice.

Lkjhmnbv• 8 years ago

There's a reason that it's called penitentiary. It's because you're supposed to repent and show penance. It's meant to rehabilitate and return people to society after they have not only intellectually understood and apologized for their actions, but actually successfully modified their behavior to become a successful member of society.

Now while that is the intent, it does not mean it has not been corrupted. My main point is your idea of learning a skill is 100% what the Bible encourages. Not the punishment. Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone and all that.

Perhaps it's time to return these institutions to their proper purpose by actually discussing what we think should be a crime, and what we think the consequences should be from the ground up.

Good luck with that though when we can't even decide if the other side is evil or not.

Frondo• 8 years ago

There is a small, growing movement called the "Ban the box" movement. It's intended to change laws around employment hiring, to stop people from asking whether you have a criminal background (with some exceptions for crimes like rape or murder, usually);

specifically recognizing the difficulty returning citizens have in getting back on their feet. When the labor pool for returning citizens is so small, so constrained, and the jobs aren't that great, it's just another factor working against their reintegrating into society.

I for one think the ban the box movement is an absolutely fantastic idea, and hope it gains steam.

chiefalchemist• 8 years ago

I am by no means a TED fan but this one by Ron Finley is amazing / inspiring.

"It's like printing money."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EzZzZ_qpZ4w

freedomben• 8 years ago

“I was so used to seeing death that I didn’t know how it’d feel to see something grow,” Trent said. “To see plants grow full of life, from something I control, it’s probably the best feeling in the world.

This made my whole day, maybe my whole week. I can also say I agree wholeheartedly. There's something magical and healing about plants, and getting your hands in the dirt. I highly recommend it.

povertyworld• 8 years ago

It's amazing what a living wage job will do for people.

blablabla1234• 8 years ago

I'm surprised this is understood so positively. The article is revealing how much discrimination is happening. It is obviously being economically rooted, also if you look at the history.

That being said, farming is the least economically interesting thing to do.

dredmorbius3• 8 years ago

What would be more interesting, in your view?

blablabla1234• 8 years ago

I'm not saying this is not interesting but this is picked up surprisingly positively. But if you ask in terms of solutions, it seems to make more sense to tackle the socio-economic root causes instead of creating another vicious circle.

amelius• 8 years ago

Reminded me of this: https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2017/03/reforming-crimina...

How Atlanta Is Turning Ex-Cons into Urban Farmers

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