A WA gardening guru has a message for employers looking for skilled horticultural and agricultural workers — give ex-prisoners who have honed their skills while doing their time a chance.
Sabrina Hahn, who hosts ABC Radio’s weekly show Roots And Shoots, visited Pardelup Prison Farm, 80 kilometres north of Albany, to speak with prisoners about the horticulture industry and the opportunities it brought.
Hahn said the 87 prisoners she met at the low-security facility were doing impressive work at a time when there was a severe shortage of skilled agricultural labour.
She also said the inmates’ work challenged widespread stereotypes of prisoners.
From prison to plate
Prisoners from maximum-security prisons can move to the prison farm near the town of Mount Barker to spend the final years of their sentences – usually an average of five years – if they show good behaviour.
The 5,000-hectare farm supplies major metropolitan prisons with hundreds of tonnes of meat, vegetables, fish and fruit.
Hahn said the inmates were growing a remarkable variety and quantity of produce.
“The amount of food that is grown here is unbelievable,” Hahn said.
“Not only do they have horticulture, but they also have aquaculture, they have hydroponics, they have sheep, they have cattle, and they do all the animal welfare.”
Learning to grow
Hahn said it was a solution that tackled two problems at once.
She said the agriculture industry had been dealing with labour shortages for years while education and training gave prisoners a chance to build a career and re-integrate into their communities once they were released.
“The thing that always astonishes me is that the public think that prisons should just be about punishment,” Hahn said.
“They need skills, they need employment opportunities … so that when they leave, they can actually have a much fuller life and become part of the community and to contribute to the greater community.”
Hahn is a trained horticulturalist who runs her own garden design business, Hort With Heart.
She said she made a practice of hiring ex-criminals to “give them a second chance”.
She said many prisoners she spoke to during her visit wanted to make positive change for themselves and their communities.
“A lot of them don’t have much sense of self-worth,” Hahn said.
“So, it’s a matter of building up their confidence, to know that they’re not being pre-judged and to allow them the opportunity to learn and keep growing.”
She said it was an important message for the broader community as well.
“They’ve all talked about giving back to society for the wrongs that they’ve done, and they really, genuinely want to,” she said.
“So, let’s give them the opportunity to do that.”
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