It’s Time to Compost the Prison Plantation
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Illuminating the reality of the prison system.
At Potosi Correctional Center in Mineral Point, Mo., stone buildings overlook verdant gardens. These so-called “Restorative Justice Gardens” are part of a carefully choreographed attempt by the Missouri Department of Corrections to portray prisons as humanitarian enterprises.
It’s just one example of a nationwide effort to use agriculture and nature to gloss over the reality of mass incarceration. More than 660 state prisons have agricultural initiatives of some kind. But if agriculture “restores” anything, it’s the prison plantation.
Between 2018 and 2023, American prisons sold almost $200 million worth of agricultural products, many of which have made their way into the offerings of major food brands.
Incarcerated workers are typically paid between $0.14 and $1.41 an hour in America.
As cofounders of the Prison Agriculture Lab, we use research to bring to light a practice that helped build the prison system and continues to nurture its existence. We do not want to restore the prison plantation. Our aim is to undermine its legitimacy.
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