Insight Garden Program

Timeline of Accomplishments

2002

  • Started at San Quentin State Prison under the Insight Prison Project, Fall 2002 (in classroom)
  • Beth Waitkus begins graduate research project

2003

  • IGP builds the first organic flower garden on an open prison yard at San Quentin
  • Beth’s research continues via pre-and post garden interviews with participants and staff

2004

  • Agape Foundation becomes fiscal sponsor, and officially the garden program becomes the “Insight Garden Program”
  • Beth completes graduate thesis research, “Impact of a Garden on the Physical Environment and Social Climate of a Prison Yard at San Quentin State Prison”

2005

2006

2007-2008

  • First proposal submitted for vegetable garden (taking 5 years for approval)
  • Peace Development Fund becomes IGP’s fiscal sponsor

2009-2010

  • Planting Justice begins collaboration with IGP as reentry partner
  • IGP is featured in KQED’s California Report
  • In collaboration with the California Reentry Program, the IGP co-hosts the first Green Career Fair in a California State prison and Contra Costa Times publishes article: “California Inmates See Green During Job Fair” by Mark Prado
  • IGP presents to Marin Academy and recruits students to do internships

2011

  • Beth featured in book: EcoAmazons – 20 Women Who are Transforming the World by Dorka Keehn
  • Collaboration begins between IGP, Planting Justice and Rubicon Programs for Transitional Eco-Reentry Program

2012

  • San Quentin Warden approves vegetable garden and plans begin for implementation
  • IGP co-hosts another Green Career fair with California Reentry Program, featured in Marin Independent Journal and SF Chronicle article, “What it Means to be Green In Prison” by Leah Garchik

2013

2014

  • IGP receives start-up funding, and 501c3 non-profit status is obtained
  • CA State Senator Loni Hancock an Assembly member Reggie Jones Sawyer (along with CDCR officials from Sacramento) visit the IGP at San Quentin
  • IGP and Planting Justice donate first vegetable garden harvest to Marin Community Food Bank
  • Programming starts at Solano State Prison in Vacaville, CA
  • IGP begins curriculum redesign for replication
  • Lisa Benham completes research study “From Utility to Significance: Exploring Ecological Connections, Ethics, and Personal Transformation through a Gardening and Environmental Literacy Program at San Quentin State Prison”

2015

  • CSP-SOL garden installed
  • Curriculum revisions completed, resulting in a year’s worth of lesson plans
  • IGP expands staffing and volunteers to accommodate prison expansion
  • With CDCR funding, IGP launches program on CSP-LAC, Yard B as well as CMF
  • IGP is mentioned in several media outlets, including The Washington Post, Psychology Today, and Huffington Post Live

2016

  • Partnership with Hawthorne Valley Farms and Bard Prison Initiative in New York begins to serve people in reentry with IGP curriculum
  • In Indiana, IGP launches programs at first juvenile facility (LJCF), and Indiana State Prison
  • Garden is installed at CMF
  • IGP launches program at CSP-LAC Yard A and California Health Care Facility
  • Through Kalliopeia Foundation, IGP joins collaborative Transformative Prison Workgroup (TPW)

2017

  • Garden installed at CSP-LAC Yard A
  • Beth testifies about “Greening Prisons: Reinvestment in People and Programs” before Senate Subcommittee #5 on Corrections, Public Safety and the Judiciary
  • Gardens are built in Indiana facilities, as well as CDCF in California
  • IGP launches new programs at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF), and Folsom Women’s Facility (FWF), as well as Avenal State Prison in the Central Valley
  • Through CalEPA Grant, IGP and men in reentry do environmental stewardship community projects
  • Insight Garden Program Turns 15!!!