Action Alert

National Farmers Union – Sign-on to Keep Canada’s Prison Farms Open

On February 24, 2009, the Kingston Whig Standard broke the story that Correctional Service of Canada would be shutting down Canada's six prison farms over the next two years. The wheels are now in motion to dismantle them. In response, the National Farmers Union and partner organizations have been taking actions and building a broad, national campaign to:

• Demonstrate the extent of support for the prison farm program
• Urge the federal government to reverse this short-sighted decision and immediately halt the dismantling process
• Revitalize and re-orient the program toward sustainable farming that will feed the inmates in the long-term, and train them to participate in the sustainable local food systems that will feed our communities in the future
• Connect this issue with the need for the Government of Canada to carry out a comprehensive review of all policies on farming and food. Canadians want food that is healthy, as local as possible, supports farm and food sector incomes, and is sustainable in light of climate change, peak oil, water scarcity and global population growth

Please visit http://nfuontario.ca/316/prison-farm-campaign for background information, documents and a National Campaign Position Statement for sign-on to this important issue.