Centering the Women’s Voices: Findings and Implications from the Rockpile Garden Program

In this chapter, the researchers present select findings from the Rockpile Garden project. The authors provide pragmatic feedback on the Rockpile Garden’s fourfold purpose of providing incarcerated women with increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables, encouraging the women to consume more fresh fruits and vegetables, enhancing their nutritional knowledge about fruits and vegetables, and providing an opportunity for them to gain horticultural skills. It presents both quantitative and qualitative findings. The chapter employs the use of basic descriptive statistics along with narratives to present its findings from the administered pre- and post-test surveys and qualitative data collected at different points. Initially, we present the demographic characteristics of the sample. Next, our focus shifts to present responses to questions about the respondents’ dietary intake and weekly fruit and vegetable consumption. Following this, we report on members’ opinions about their diet, healthy eating, and any attendant stress they perceive that arises from their diet. Finally, we report responses to questions about what the participants like and dislike about gardening, their feelings about the Rockpile Garden program, and changes they suggest for improving the program. In closing, this chapter answers the following questions: What was gained from implementing the prison garden? What do inmates think about its usefulness? What do the findings suggest about nutrition and access to healthy food by inmates? How can gardens be used as therapy in prisons? What are the physical, emotional, and psychological benefits of prison gardens? For those leaving the prison, what are the benefits of prison gardens?