Food in Jails Should Heal Not Harm

PG Changemakers, in coalition with Life After Release and the Prince George's Food Equity Council,  present the “Food in Jail Should Heal Not Harm” coalition and campaign. We aim to transform the carceral food environment so that food can be a force for healing instead of harm- not only for the incarcerated population who have to eat that food, but for everyone along the food value chain. We seek to continue to create and promote procurement policy that ensures that food is sourced in a manner that is ethically responsible, sustainable, and healthy, as well as inclusive of input and decision-making from those directly impacted. This includes food and farmworkers, farmers, and people affected by the environmental impacts of food production. We seek to continue to create and promote healthy food being grown and prepared directly by currently incarcerated individuals and support programming in the jail that would provide opportunities for job training and certifications in agriculture.

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We envision having Prince George’s County residents support providing healthy and sustainable food to the jail, expanding this model to the whole state of Maryland. While PG Changemakers and Life After Release bring years of experience in County policy advocacy and supporting returning citizens, our partners at Prince George’s County Food Equity Council have been working to bring healthy, culturally appropriate foods to every County resident and strengthen the regional food economy through policy change for nearly a decade. Our work recently received the Growing Justice Grant which will allow us to continue our coalition work of advocating and providing support to those in and outside the carceral system.