SETBI ‘s College Education Behind Bars is aholistic approach to address transformation, rehabilitation, reform, and recovery from habits and hangups. The weaponization of the desire for greater freedom underlies such holistic rehabilitative philosophies. Thus, the program uses this desire to be free as a motivation for students’ reform. One of the most wasteful things in life is not being productive or doing nothing. In jails and prisons the captives have much time but little to do. Gardening can have many benefits for youth and adults in these institutions. Growing vegetables, such as okra and lettuce, or fruits, such as watermelon, gives individuals an opportunity to be productive. General knowledge shows that fresh air and sunshine have many health benefits such as reducing stress or depression and increasing energy and concentration, but prison conditions yield a lack of consistent access to nature, outdoor spaces, and good food. Gardening can be therapeutic. The reason gardening seems to be so beneficial to health, mind, and soul is because it combines physical activity with social interaction and exposure to nature and sunlight. Sunlight lowers blood pressure, increases vitamin D levels, reduces stress levels, boosts self-esteem, and accelerates calorie-burning. In addition to these benefits, gardening allows for physical activity, improves hand strength and coordination, and results in financial savings when the produce is available to eat. It can even help PDL bond with their families if they have extra to share. If the gardening is organic, the lack of exposure to chemicals in the cultivation and consumption of food is yet another plus. Furthermore, gardening helps improve the lives of people with substance use disorders inside prison. Building an environment that supports recovery, change, and opportunities for learning, gardening improves self control, develops a sense of shared responsibility and community, as well as increases communication among PDL. Some of the PDL may also continue to garden once they are released. Therefore, they are learning a practical skill that they enjoy doing as a job while incarcerated, that they can use upon release, and that constructively aids them in their recovery process.
Anthony Cuadrillero graduated from SETBI’s College Education Behind Bars in Davao City Jail with a four-year degree from the University of Southeastern Philippines and with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. Subsequently, he was transferred to DaPeCol to serve the rest of his sentence. SETBI hired Anthony to be the student coordinator in the prison and assigned him the responsibility of supervisor of SETBI’s Green Care Organic Gardening program. From his agricultural degree, Anthony knew the practical techniques for urban agriculture, such as organic fertilizer formulation, backyard poultry raising, and salted eggs preservation, so he provided inmates with the knowledge to cultivate fresh produce inside the SETBI Campus.
Prisons and jails are overcrowded, which leads to food shortages and poor sanitation, a nationwide problem. Congestion occurs when jail and prison facilities are not large enough to accommodate all the people awaiting trial and serving sentences and from those recidivating. This problem can undermine the government’s ability to meet the basic needs of PDL, such as food, living accommodations, and health care.
Food matters both inside and outside but matters more inside prison since eating is one of the few things to do. Food rationing and poor quality of food inside prisons are frequent complaints. Our SETBI student coordinator, Anthony, wants to end food rationing because that system underfeeds the PDL. By contrast, gardens improve the quantity, thereby offsetting the meagerness of the portions, and the quality, thereby countering over processed and low nutritional meals. In addition to being a cost-effective food source, the gardens are seen as a way to save money on healthcare for prisoners struggling with diabetes, hypertension, and other ailments. Also, the gardening itself provides opportunities for personal growth, as inmates learn how to plant, raise, and harvest crops.
SETBI’s Green Care Organic Gardening program at DaPeCol offers cost effective food sources, provides PDL with better nutrition, reduces drug use since the growers have a purpose, and improves their lives in general. This project is enabling students in College Education Behind Bars at DaPeCol to gain respect and dignity. Since the food inside the prison is a substandard quality, SETBI students are discovering the value of feeding themselves nutrient-rich foods grown by their own hands. SETBI’s Green Care Organic Garden allows PDL to plant, cultivate, and harvest fresh produce to ensure access to nutritious food at a time where food insecurity inside prison is high. This program creates a sense of ownership, helps the participants develop life skills, and provides educational, occupational, and rehabilitative benefits. Giving ownership of the gardens to the PDL creates a sense of responsibility. It provides a space where inmates can reflect on their rehabilitation and therapy sessions while they participate in meaningful, purposeful therapeutic activities in their organic garden. As an added benefit, prisoners share and consume what they harvest to promote health and wellbeing.
In summary, a year ago, SETBI launched its Green Care Organic Garden program to enhance the health and nutrition of inmates at SETBI’s DaPeCol Campus. We tackled food shortages in the SETBI’s college education behind bars campus by training our Agribusiness graduates to garden. This empowered them to cultivate food on the prison grounds, providing a sustainable source in case of delayed supplies. The initiative involves establishing thriving vegetable gardens inside the College Education Behind Bars Campus, allowing PDL students to access nutritious food such as, okra, bean leaves, tomatoes, watermelon, lettuce, cucumbers, eggplant, and pumpkins. The garden helps the students to supplement the limited food provided for them. It also benefits them as they acquire skills that will assist them in reintegrating into their communities after serving their sentences. This transformative program is not only boosting the well-being of the PDL but also nurturing hope and positivity within the students’ community. Likewise, it draws them away from the temptation of drug use. Thus, the sustainable farming method aims (1) to produce improved nutrition with the high quality of food, (2) to preserve the environment, and (3) to improve the economic and social conditions of our gardeners, for example, in reducing potential stigmas, empowering them, and moving them toward self-sufficiency.
At the end of the program the students earn a Vocational Certificate in Organic Agriculture from Davao Del Norte State College. The SETBI program curriculum includes: life skills, nutrition, food literacy, theoretical and experiential learning on organic farming, composting, and fruits and vegetable culturing. One of the goals is to teach the PDL skills necessary to get employment within green industries like organic farming or composting. Anthony and SETBI students are actively involved in their own recovery. They freely share the precious commodity of good mental health and newly acquired stability that have been given to them. When they are released from prison, they will be, metaphorically, like the compost with its rich nutrients to be used by society to produce a harvest that will benefit others. Healing the students minds and bodies, the SETBI Green Care Organic Gardening program inside the College Education Behind Bars Campus greatly benefits DaPeCol. We thank Sir Paul for giving us seedlings to begin our initiative.
Dr. Aland Mizell is with the MCI, SETBI and is a regular Mindanao Times columnist. You may e-mail the author at aland_mizell2@hotmail.com
