Inmate Community Gardens Continue Despite Pandemic

Calvin Neufeld and Kevin Belanger | May 19, 2021

It’s 2021, some 12 years after the first Inmate Community Garden started at Joyceville Institution (formerly Pittsburgh). Thousands of pounds of produce are grown each year. Some of it is eaten by inmates in the minimum-security camp but most is donated to several food banks in Kingston.

This garden is tended by the inmate population. The individuals who participate may change year by year but there are two or three who have been involved from the beginning, and still are to this day. This is a labour of love and a source of pride for the inmates who dedicate their time, energy, and money to helping those in the community who are less fortunate.

Joyceville inmates wish to reassure the public that their Community Garden will continue despite the pandemic. The need to support food banks is greater than ever and the men hope to make this year’s harvest the most abundant yet. Inmates also wish to make it clear that their gardens and food bank donations are in no way connected to the new prison farm program, despite misleading statements from the Correctional Service of Canada.

With Covid-19 and its third wave upon us, the authors of this letter believe it is important for the public to know that the great work and giving back though a simple garden project will be continuing once again this year at Joyceville.

Many federal prisons have community gardens. Typically, inmates who wish to participate pay for a small plot (at Warkworth Institution, for example, the cost of a plot is $6, with proceeds going towards gardening tools). They also pay for their own seeds, plants, and fertilizer, purchased through the institution’s Inmate Committee (a representative body comprised of inmates elected by their peers).

All vegetables that are grown there belong to the inmates. After weeks of hard work, they enjoy what the land has given back to them, and they share the abundance with the local community and many charities. One section of the garden is primarily for inmates’ own consumption in the minimum-security camp, the second section of the garden is wholly for the purpose of giving all these vegetables to local charities.

For many years at Joyceville Institution, the routine has been the same. Each Friday at noon, a local soup kitchen or charity arrives at the prison to pick up a load of fresh vegetables. Thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables are donated each and every year from this garden.

The charities receiving these items are, to name a few, Lunch by George, Salvation Army food bank, Loving Spoonful, and the Kingston community kitchen food bank, among others.

The only recognition that these inmates get is often a plaque or a letter of thanks from these many local charities, which are framed and proudly put on a wall outside the Inmate Committee Office. After so many years, the wall is full.