By Diana Martinez, Chicks Ahoy Farm
In October 2025, the State’s Correction Ombudsman released a report on the conditions of confinement, which detailed a number of health and wellness crises facing people incarcerated in Connecticut’s prisons. Terrible prison conditions disproportionately impact people of color, who are overrepresented in the prison system. Black people, for instance, comprise just over 10% of CT’s population, but make up over 43% of the prison population. On the flip side, BILPOC (Black, Indigenous, Latine, People of Color) farmers are woefully underrepresented in CT’s farming industry, where over 98% of farmers identify as white.
House Bill 5567 seeks to address some of the medical and nutritional gaps and inequities identified in the report within the Department of Corrections (DOC). Ensuring the provision of healthy food across DOC is crucial and achievable by incorporating locally sourced food from farmers and emerging agribusinesses. We support HB 5567 and see this as a unique opportunity to advance farming equity by requesting the addition of language mandating the inclusion of local underrepresented farmers, growers, and producers as vendors for the Department of Corrections. The state should prioritize the inclusion of businesses owned by historically marginalized or underrepresented populations in state procurement. The DOC should be directed to establish and implement a formal, proactive procurement strategy to increase its contracting with, and purchasing from, underrepresented Connecticut farmers, growers, and producers for its institutional food and nutrition requirements.
Chicks Ahoy Farm has trained nearly 100 people, including youth, seniors, and formerly incarcerated people, on becoming farmers in CT and in implementing farm projects adaptable to small and urban spaces. Our FLOC (Farmers and Leaders of Color) is a cohort of about 20 new farmers, locally-owned agribusinesses, and landholders–some who seek procurement opportunities with state agencies–and all of whom are producing healthy, nutritious food in urban and suburban spaces. These enterprises serve the same communities disproportionately affected by mass incarceration, probation, parole supervision, and elevated police and ICE presence, which often undermines access to basic human needs. Because they also witness our neighbors, family, and friends leave the Department of Corrections and reenter our communities as more broken and unhealthy versions of themselves, they are key people to consult on strategies to address gaps in food and nutrition access across the Department of Corrections.
Following the release of the State’s Ombuds report and a feature in a CT Mirror article, “CT correction ombuds details ‘institutional failure’ in prison conditions report”, CT’s General Assembly held a Public Hearing on the report. This hearing featured compelling testimony regarding living conditions and issues related to water, food, and adequate nutrition for incarcerated individuals. Connecticut legislators have long endeavored to address severe racial disparities within the DOC’s population through sentencing reform and other criminal justice policies. That work is necessary, ongoing, and increasingly intersectional. By prioritizing procurement measures for underrepresented New and Beginning farmers, producers, and growers, the state will achieve the following:
- Establish economic opportunities for local Beginner, BILPOC, and underrepresented farmers, producers, and growers operating small-scale enterprises that supply produce and crops.
- Enhance access to and the diversity of crops available in correctional facilities and housing units under the DOC.
- Cultivate a stronger connection between incarcerated individuals and families from their respective communities through food and nutrition without reinforcing the carceral state.
Just as DOC has the capacity to provide nutritious meals for everyone in its custody, the Department of Agriculture has the means to support individuals from underrepresented communities in becoming farmers. This includes supporting urban residents in transforming vacant land in their neighborhoods into productive growing spaces for crops, apiaries, and coops for laying hens. State procurement practices should prioritize CT farmers and businesses–this is an opportunity to invest in and strengthen food resiliency in urban and suburban communities by incorporating measures that proactively engage underrepresented, New and Beginning urban and suburban farmers. This can be achieved through:
- Outreach and Technical Assistance: Developing targeted outreach programs and providing technical assistance—including guidance on the state contracting process, food safety standards, and volume requirements—to assist underrepresented farmers, growers, and producers in successfully navigating the procurement system.
- Clear Procurement Targets: Establishing measurable, annual goals and benchmarks for the percentage of total food and nutrition spending allocated to these underrepresented businesses.
- Flexible Contract Mechanisms: Investigating and utilizing flexible contracting mechanisms, such as smaller-volume contracts or cooperative purchasing arrangements, which may be more accessible to small and medium-sized underrepresented farms.
- Reporting and Accountability: Instituting a transparent reporting mechanism to track progress in meeting procurement targets, documenting the total dollars contracted with underrepresented farmers, and regularly submitting these findings to the relevant legislative committees and state agencies.
With some intentionality, we can leverage state purchasing power to support local, diverse, and sustainable food systems while simultaneously ensuring the continued provision of high-quality, nutritious food to those in DOC custody.
