permaculture

[gavinraders@gmail.com]

Hi Michael,
   As part of our food justice/permaculture work at Planting Justice, we 
teach urban permaculture at San Quentin State Prison to 35 medium security 
inmates in collaboration with the Insight Garden Program. Currently we have a 
1000 sq foot native plant medicinal and flower garden that the guys have 
built and tend to, and we have submitted a proposal to build a permaculture 
inspired raised bed veggie/herb garden behind their dorms. Unfortunately, 
prison rules will prohibit the guys from eating any of the food they grow, so 
it will be donated to low-income families in Oakland, and we will attempt to 
donate it specifically to the families of the guys we work with who live in 
the area as a way to connect the guys inside with their loved ones on the 
outside. It has been a tremendous experience, transformative for ourselves, 
and especially transformative for the guys, who cultivate patience and 
nurturance for themselves and those around them through their work in the 
garden. Some of their reflections about their experience gardening in prison 
are on our website at www.plantingjustice.org

And we have another incredible prison permaculture project in the making! We 
are in conversation with the sherrifs office at Santa Rita jail in Dublin to 
embark upon a much larger permaculture garden/green jobs training program on 
multiple acres adjacent to the prison, and thus far the officials are very 
supportive. We are working with the sherrifs office to collaboratively raise 
funding to make it happen.  Everything happens VERY SLOWLY at prisons in our 
experience, so stick with it, don't accept no the first or fifth time, and 
find/build your allies on the inside!  We'll post on the Santa Rita project 
when we have movement.
All the best,
Gavin
Co-founder, Planting Justice
------Original Message------
From: Michael Pilarski
Sender: permaculture-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
To: permaculture
ReplyTo: permaculture
Subject: [permaculture] permaculture in prisons
Sent: Mar 2, 2010 9:48 AM



I just received a request from someone seeking leads on anyone doing work 
around applying
permaculture design to prison environments?

Can anyone send me info on this?

On a personal note, Yesterday I met with the police chief and
jailer at the Flathead Indian Reservation (Montana) along with some other 
tribal
staff and 2 other permaculturists to talk about setting up a food
garden which the inmates could work at.  I really liked the police chief, as 
well as the other folks.  It sounds
like they will go ahead with the project.  

The project is being initiated by a tribal member who is a permaculturist.


Michael Pilarski

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