The butternut squash has outdone itself on this two-year-old organic farm in Northeast Philadelphia. Hundreds of the winter squashes鈥�753 to be exact鈥攁re stacked up high in the bed of a gold pickup, but many more await harvesting. Three workers crouch in the green rows surrounded by peach and figs trees, as well as beds that have already in their short lifespans borne eggplant, watermelons, and more. One by one, the workers toss more squash into wheelbarrows.
This small and unusual farm was once a construction site. Its three acres back onto the Pennypack Creek, a winding tributary that empties about a half mile away in the Delaware River. Overlooking the orchard鈥檚 entrance is the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, a red brick building surrounded by two layers of barbed wire fencing and light towers. This is a prison farm, and the workers in the rows are inmates from another nearby minimum security facility.
Sustainability has not been a high priority in most prison systems. But in 2011, the National Institute of Corrections聽began encouraging聽鈥渢he greening of correctional facilities鈥� through actions on energy consumption, waste, and re-use, and offering incarcerated people green job training.
The Washington State Department of Corrections was an early leader on all these fronts with its聽Sustainability in Prisons Project and, now, sustainability is becoming a reality in Philadelphia, too. These institutions, which didn鈥檛 even recycle a decade ago, now boast a state-of-the-art composting system, a farm, and an organic agriculture vocational program through which inmates earn certificates from Temple University.
The benefits are already beginning to show. The office of Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney聽noted recently聽that the program diverts 685 tons of food waste a year into compost, saving the city more than $40,000 in landfill costs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)聽recognized聽the Philadelphia Prison System in this year鈥檚 national Food Recovery Challenge awards.
In September, Kenney聽awarded the prison department鈥檚 sustainability manager Laura Cassidy聽a prestigious innovation award for her efforts in creating 鈥淧hiladelphia鈥檚 first City-run captive food waste composting program.鈥� And while nothing about this success was inevitable鈥擟assidy and other have worked to make it happen鈥攊t聽is听谤别辫濒颈肠补产濒别.
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