Inmates at Missouri Department of Corrections facilities are gardening and tattooing

Last year, Missouri Department of Corrections facility gardens grew and donated around 10 tons of fresh produce to local food banks and pantries.

Almost all Missouri Correctional facilities have Restorative Justice gardens, which selected inmates tend to as volunteer work.

Karen Pojmann, Communications Director at the Missouri Department of Corrections, tells KMOX the produce helps feed Missourians facing food insecurities, especially in more rural areas where most MoDoc facilities are located.

Two Missouri facilities also offer tattoo apprenticeship programs.

Pojmann said Missouri was the first state to adopt a tattoo apprenticeship program in state Correctional facilities. And since the first program in St. Joseph has been so successful, a second program was recently opened in a Jefferson City facility.

She says the program goes beyond giving inmates a career pathway after incarceration. It also stops the spread of pathogens in facilities, as apprentices are taught proper health and safety protocols and are allowed to give qualified inmates tattoos in-house.

Learn more about both the programs at the podcast above, where our Jade Aubrey talks with Pojmann.