Microgreens will set you free

The Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison has a growing concern.

Food, that is.

Not long ago, ISP Correctional Trades Leader Sarah Rippenkroeger discovered a booth selling microgreens in Missouri, and she knew they would be good to grow in the ISP greenhouses.

"I found a roadside fruit stand, and they had all these microgreens," Rippenkroeger said. "I couldn't believe how tasty they were, how small they were, the variety of uses for them."

Rippenkroeger returned to the Fort Madison prison, where a new greenhouse was up: the original was destroyed in a storm five years ago.

"Last fall, we decided to put it back together. We had all the pieces, we just had to reassemble them," she said. "We were trying to figure out what we could do with it, being too early to plant for the spring, but too late to plant for a fall crop. So, 'Let's grow those micro-greens.'"

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Is this her brainchild?

"Yes," Rippenkroeger replied with a laugh. "I just love gardening, and it does provide opportunities and nutrition. So it's a win, really, for everybody."

Microgreens are baby plants, between the size of a sprout and a baby green, young vegetable greens approximately 1-3 inches tall. They have a concentrated nutrient content. They can grow in as little as three weeks and are produced from various kinds of vegetables and herbs. Some microgreens can re-grow after harvesting.

"You can grow almost any fruit or vegetable that way," Rippenkroeger said. "They come in a variety of flavors and textures and colors. They can be spicy. They can be sweet, bitter, sour or mild."

Rippenkroeger held up a greenhouse carrot sprout. "There is very little difference in nutrients between baby carrots and a mature carrot; they should have the same health effects," she said. "The benefit is growing large quantities in a small area, without pesticides or fertilizers. Other benefits would be that if a person does not enjoy the flavor of a carrot, they could still get all the benefits of a carrot with a small bite rather than consuming a larger mature carrot. Microgreens pack a punch in flavor, so a little goes a long way."

She said research comparing microgreens to more mature greens shows that nutrient levels in microgreens can be up to nine times higher than the same amount of mature greens. Microgreens do have fiber — not as much as their adult counterparts — but make up for it in the vitamins and nutrients they provide in such a small quantity of produce. Even the smallest amount of fiber is a benefit for your digestive system.

Rippenkroeger said the microgreens program at ISP is the first in the state, and possibly the first in the United States.

The harvested microgreens are sent to the ISP kitchen, where they are washed and prepared to be included in meals. Only the above-dirt leaves and stems are edible; the roots are not.

The greenhouse also provides flowers to plant around the grounds in the spring.

What else comes out of the ISP greenhouse?

"Lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, onions, several types of peppers — no spicy peppers — tons of cucumbers," Rippenkroeger said. "In the squash family, we have spaghetti squash, acorn squash, zucchinis, all of them. They put them in salads and soups, stews — they just love them."

But salsa without hot peppers?

"Other institutions do grow jalapeńos, but we are not allowed to here," Rippenkroeger said. "Everyone has a different idea of what is hot, so it's better to keep everything mild so that it is edible to all."

No worries: Inmates can buy hot peppers in the prison's canteen.

Rippenkroeger's duties include watering and monitoring for disease.

"You're always watching for signs of distress, whether it's under-watering, over-watering or insect problems," she said. "Walk through every day and check every plant to make sure there's nothing moving."

She's talking about bugs, and the greenhouse takes an organic approach.

"We do not use fertilizers or chemicals. We will use neem oil, which is organic, if we have problems," Rippenkroeger said.

Neem oil is an all-natural insecticide that kills some garden pests and repels others.

She said mice came in and stole a pack of pumpkin seeds.

"We actually found the seeds hidden in other containers when they sprouted," she said, laughing. "So we have four gigantic pumpkins growing."

Rippenkroeger said the greenhouse saves money on the cost of fruits and vegetables in the institution.

"We're growing all the fruits and vegetables that will be consumed by ISP-incarcerated individuals," she said. "We have about 3000 tomato plants started."

Do the prisoners help take care of the plants?

"Absolutely," Rippenkroeger said. "Out here in the greenhouse, we have the minimums. These are all guys who are going to be getting out usually fairly quickly. They work the greenhouse and the gardens out here, and then inside the maximum security, inmates process and clean the vegetables and get it into trays. They also do the inside gardens. So both classes of inmates are working with the produce."

"Minimum" is a classification of incarcerated individuals; in Iowa we have minimum, medium, and maximum. Minimums are sentenced to shorter sentences and will be returning to their homes and communities.

Both classes of inmates work with the produce: Minimums work in the greenhouse and the fields near the maintenance department, maximum incarcerated individuals work in the garden, inside the institution, and in the kitchen, cleaning and preparing the produce.

How much do the prisoners produce annually?

"Last year, we planted about three acres in sweet corn," Rippenkroeger said. "We have, on average, three to five hundred tomato plants every year. And then at least 400 bell peppers."

She said they also grow supplemental herbs such as cilantro for salsa.

"We have dill for potato salad, stuff like that," she said. "But cucumbers, tomatoes — you can never have enough of those. We grow tons of onions and squashes, the whole squash family. They love them."

What kind of feedback do the gardening prisoners give them?

"It's rewarding to them. They love the fresh produce because a lot of what they get is canned products," she said. "The difference between a canned tomato and a fresh tomato? Everybody knows that's completely different. So they really do enjoy them when things are in season."

And it isn't just the fresh veggies that enhance the inmates' lives.

"A lot of the minimums who helped build this greenhouse, they could see the instant gratification of what they had created with their time and their effort," Rippenkroeger said. "They not only created and constructed the greenhouse, but they made it beautiful, too. They took pride in it. And then they get to see all the produce coming out of it, and they get to enjoy that, and know that it's healthy."

Good nutrition can help cut down health issues and costs, but what are the savings if ISP doesn't have to buy food from a vendor because they're growing their own?

"I don't know what the financial savings are exactly, but it does give them an opportunity to have fresher produce," Rippenkroeger said. "We know what chemicals have or have not been used; that's another benefit."

Microgreens can help prevent Alzheimer's and heart disease. They're healthy for people with diabetes because they get minerals and antioxidants without large amounts of carbohydrates. Evidence suggests that microgreens may help prevent some types of cancer.

Lastly, work promotes good health, too.

"The offenders sweat their butts off every summer in the gardens," Rippenkroeger said. "Most of the gardens workers really enjoy their job, even mid-August when it's scorching outside. There's a waiting list to get into a garden position for the maximum incarcerated individuals."

And the prisoners are learning from the program.

"It teaches them trades they can use when they get out in the real world," Rippenkroeger said. "The whole institution benefits from it. We're just glad to have the opportunity to provide it."

That's definitely a win-win for everyone.

Source: The Hawk Eye

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Source: The Hawk Eye