Good Food and Good Lives - grow, cook, share: The role of food in resettlement, rehabilitation, and re-entry.

Evidence shows a range of positive outcomes arising from engaging men and women who have come to the attention of the criminal justice system with opportunities to work outside, be involved in food-growing and broader land-based activities. In this chapter we draw on three studies carried out in partnership with prisons, charities and men and women who have come to the attention of the criminal justice system. The first study was an evaluation of a gardening programme delivered by Garden Organic in a prison. The second study explored the work of four charities and the role of food and food growing in supporting resettlement. The third study was delivered by the Conservation Foundation at another prison with the aim of ‘greening’ the prison environment. Across the studies we remark upon the crucial role that food growing, cooking, tasting, and sharing plays in improving physical and mental health and well-being. Growing and learning about food can be an indirect way of addressing multiple and complex issues and of equipping those impacted by the criminal justice system with employment-related skills. Irrespective of the challenges encountered - particularly when working in secure settings - our work has identified that food growing, and wider land-based programmes can be a powerful tool for effecting change and influencing rehabilitation and recovery.