MEDIA RELEASES
Media Release (August 25, 2022): Corrections Canada Training Prisoners to Kill, Violating Human Rights. A new report has been published documenting years of violations at Canada’s last remaining prison abattoir. Bloody Bad Business: Report on the Joyceville Institution Abattoir features never-before-seen documentation exposing a spectrum of infractions at this federally owned abattoir where prisoners kill for a private company. Read more.
Media Release (April 10, 2019): David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood Want Prison Farms to Evolve. In a filmed interview with Evolve Our Prison Farms, Dr. Suzuki expresses support for an alternative model of plant-based agriculture and animal-assisted therapy. In response to the news of the goat dairy plan, Atwood tweeted, “What’s wrong with this proposed prison farm return? Feed prisoners & local communities, not international markets!” Read more.
Media Release (August 1, 2018): Conflict of Interest Complaint Filed Over Prison Farm Panel. Evolve Our Prison Farms has filed a complaint with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion regarding actions taken by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and the Prison Farm Advisory Panel in determining the future of the federally funded prison farm program. Read more.
Media Release (July 29, 2018): Prison Farms Under Fire: Protest, Petition, Conflict of Interest. The return of prison farms in Kingston, Ontario, is being met with adamant opposition by justice advocates raising the alarm over the use of this rehabilitation program to produce milk for China. Read more.
Media Release (June 14, 2018): Prison-Sourced Baby Formula Leaves Sour Taste. In a program described as “emphasizing rehabilitation” through “animal therapy,” milk from the 2200-goat operation will reportedly be sold through a broker to the Feihe infant formula factory. Consumers in China might question the logic of adding prisons to the long list of suppliers for baby formula, especially when product distrust is still raw. Read more.
Media Release (March 12, 2018): Rehabilitation Program Exploits Prisoners and Animals. Putting foreign economic interests ahead of democratic process, the government has revealed that the restoration of the farm program was never about responding to public demand, and it was never about rehabilitation. Read more.
Media Release (March 1, 2018): A Controversial Future for Prison Farms. While some advocates are applauding the federal budget commitment of $4.3 million to reopen the agricultural operations at Collins Bay and Joyceville Institutions in Kingston, others received the news with apprehension. Read more.
Media Release (May 6, 2017): A New Voice on Prison Farms Emerges. Evolve Our Prison Farms has submitted to legislators a model for plant-based prison farming that prioritizes ecological stewardship, meaningful rehabilitation and employment programming for prisoners, and community development and food security. Read more.
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Evolve Our Prison Farms has evolved since 2016 when the Canadian government began the process of reintroducing prison farms in Kingston, Ontario. Initially, Evolve focused on advocating ethical, relevant, cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to industrial goat dairy production and beef and cow dairy farming for commercial markets. As the program’s costs, complexities, and controversy mounted, Evolve shifted from advocacy to investigating, documenting, and exposing the problems. The following media releases were related to Evolve’s efforts to transition the program, but Evolve no longer advocates any form of prison farms (note that “prison farms” are distinct from horticulture and garden projects, which are cost-effective and relevant for therapeutic and post-release employment purposes, and are already offered at correctional institutions across Canada).
Media Release (April 9, 2020): Prison Farms Can Relieve Food Shortages. Advocates want prison farms to feed food banks during COVID-19 pandemic. “Instead of proceeding with the planned industrial goat dairy for Chinese infant formula, there is a substantially more advantageous and urgent approach that can be implemented.” Read more.
Media Release (June 10, 2019): Prison Farms Spark Resistance. The introduction of beef and dairy cows at Joyceville and Collins Bay Institutions has sparked public controversy. Read more.
Media Release (August 13, 2018): Prison Farm Protest Sparks Debate. Prisoners’ Justice Day is a solemn occasion to remember those who have died unnatural deaths in prisons, to struggle against oppression, and to advocate models of healing justice. “We are opposing exploitation and defending healing justice,” says Calvin Neufeld of Evolve Our Prison Farms. Read more.
Media Release (December 19, 2017): Save the Herd Petition March Weathers the Storm. Two dozen people marched from Collins Bay Institution to the office of MP Mark Gerretsen to deliver a petition with a total of 12,928 signatures. Over 4,000 signatures were received in the final 24 hours, as the petition had begun to go viral. Read more.
Media Release (November 9, 2017): Sanctuary Not Slaughter for Canada’s Prison Farms. While the Trudeau government hashes out its plan to restore the federal prison farm program, a new concept is taking root in Canadian consciousness: that animal agriculture is the wrong path to rehabilitating prisoners. Read more.