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US (SC): $97,000 investment to give prisoners agricultural training

Beginning next month, inmates at South Carolina's women's prison will be able to receive agricultural training and a stipend upon release with the help of a statewide grant program. The South Carolina philanthropy Power:Ed announced a $97,000 grant this month to the nonprofit Impact Justice, which is working with the state Department of Corrections to run the agricultural program at the state's prison for women.

Beyond growing an expected 48,000 pounds of lettuce each year for the prison's kitchens, the program is meant to train women in the fast-growing field of hydroponics, which means growing plants in water instead of soil, to help them get jobs soon after leaving prison.

Starting July 7, between 15 and 20 women incarcerated at Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution will begin a five-month course on food safety, agricultural technology and hydroponics, both in a classroom and through hands-on work, said Kelly Danner, who leads the program for California-based Impact Justice.

The first group of women will start work at an existing prison greenhouse while construction continues on the eight containers that will house the prison's vertical farms. With $350,000 in state money and $850,000 from a private donation, the prison system got the initial go-ahead on the project in 2023.

Read more at South Carolina Daily Gazette