By Alan Johnson
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS — Vegetables grown at state prisons could still end up stocking Ohio Association of FoodBanks despite a plan to close prison farms.
Officials from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction met today with Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the agency that supplies 12 regional food banks statewide. Both sides said they hope to work out something after this year, when all 10 prison farms are set to close.
The food banks association has a public-private partnership with the prison system that over eight years produced 805,000 pounds of fresh vegetables — 20 tractor-trailer loads — and $204,000 in cash crops, mostly winter wheat and soy beans. The association buys seed, fertilizer, fuel, some equipment and product packaging for the prisons. In exchange, it gets cabbages, cantaloupes, cucumber, sweet corn, eggplant and other vegetables, plus cash from field crops.
Hamler-Fugitt said she feared that would be lost with the announcement last week that Ohio prisons will get out of the farming business after more than 100 years. The agency will phase out farming at 10 prisons across the state, covering 12,500 acres, 2,300 beef cattle and 1,000 dairy cattle, by the end of this year.
A meeting held today that was called after last week’s announcement calmed some jangled nerves.
“The message I took away is we are business as usual this year,” Hamler-Fugitt said. “They’re open to recommendations and suggestions after that. Things still need to be worked out.”
“We reaffirmed our commitment to the foodbank,” said Stuart Hudson, managing director of health care and fiscal operations for the prison system. “This year we will grow a grain crop for them and continue to have gardens. We don’t have any definitive answers about what 2017 will look like.”
The closing is estimated to affect about 70 staff members and 220 inmates during the peak season. But Hudson said the agency hopes to work out an agreement with the Ohio Civil Services Employees Association, which represents prison employees, to maintain a small number of employees to farm for the food banks.
Hudson said using a limited number of inmates as farm labor hasn’t been ruled out.
“We understand this was a shock,” Hudson said. “That’s the meeting today was so important for us.”
Prison officials said the reason for shutting down the century-old farm operations because farming isn’t in line with the agency’s prime mission of preparing inmates for life after prison. Farms also pose security risks with people dropping off drugs, tobacco and other contraband to be smuggled into prison.
Copyright 2016 The Columbus Dispatch