Video: Jail Garden Feeds Inmates, Saves Tax Dollars

PONTOTOC, MISS. (WCBI) – Not long after he became Pontotoc County sheriff, Leo Mask organized a trustee garden work unit.

The garden for Pontotoc County Jail sits on more than 30 acres of land.

“We’ve got corn, tomatoes, peas, okra, butter beans, squash, snap peas, pepper, anything we use in the jail, we are growing it,” Sheriff Mask said.

Each meal served in the jail uses produce from the garden. Also, walk in coolers are full of harvested vegetables.

Inmates utilize both modern and old fashioned methods in the garden.

“We’ve got garden tillers, we have hoes, and our mule, our hinney. You can see how much faster he is than the garden tiller,’ Sheriff Mask said.

This corn will be ready for harvest in about ninety days. The jail garden not only stocks the freezer, it also saves taxpayers a lot of money.

“It costs us approximately a dollar twenty a day to feed a person, like everybody else, you don’t have a lot in the budget and the more you can save, the more you can use it for other things,” he said.

Also, the jail garden gives inmates on the detail a break from the usual routine.

“They get to come out and work, grow vegetables and see what they’re doing is productive,” Mask said.

Typically, there are about 90 inmates daily at the Pontotoc County Jail.

Monroe County also has a jail garden, overseen by inmates.