March 4, 2025 • 15 mins
This episode dives deep into the mission of Nutrition Inside, focusing on enhancing nutrition for incarcerated individuals. We explore the systemic barriers in prison food systems and the transformative power of fresh produce.
• Introduction to the Radical Root podcast and Nutrition Inside mission
• Insights from Aiden O'Connor about challenges and solutions in prison nutrition
• Value of connecting local farms with correctional facilities to promote food justice
• The role of community volunteers in supporting nutritional initiatives
If you're interested in getting involved with Nutrition Inside, visit nutritioninside.org to find out how you can help make a difference.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Radical Root podcast hosted by
the 501c3 nonprofit GrowingGardens your go-to resource for
all things radical gardening andfood system advocacy.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to the Radical Root, where we share
inspiring interviews with foodsystem leaders who are making a
difference in food justice andfood sovereignty.
Today, I'm sitting down withAiden O'Connor from Nutrition
Inside to talk about their workproviding fresh, nutritious food
for incarcerated individuals,while supporting local farms and
reducing food waste.
(00:38):
Aiden, I'm so glad to have youhere.
Thanks for taking the time tochat.
Let's just start with thebasics.
Tell us about yourself, yourbackground and how you got
involved with this work.
What led you to createNutrition Inside?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, awesome.
Thanks so much for having meBea.
This is an awesome podcast.
I have listened to a fewepisodes in the past, so I'm
super excited to be on.
And yeah, Nutrition Insidereally started from the FarmLink
project, which was a nonprofitthat I worked with last year,
(01:14):
and they have a nationwideapproach of recovering surplus
food and as part of that, I waspart of the fellowship called
(01:42):
the Field Fellowship, and onephase of that fellowship is an
immersion where I got to do myimmersion with Growing Gardens
and I did talking about the food, learning about the food and
trying to really understand whatthe mental implications of the
food were and what the physicalimplications of the food were.
And so I did a survey afterhaving a few conversations and
really learning how bad the foodwas.
(02:04):
It's much worse than you think,unfortunately, and through that
survey realized you knowthere's a real problem here and
food has really become a form ofpunishment.
In correctional facilities,Punishment is deliberate in most
cases, but here it really comesdown to them trying to keep
costs as low as possible, and soI reached out to one of the
(02:29):
food service managers at CRCIand that's kind of how it all
started.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
That's so amazing.
I know through our work withLettuce Grow that this work is
so important and I'm alwaysinspired to hear the backstories
and the different ways thatpeople are going about tackling
these food justice issues.
We know that food andcorrectional facilities, as you
mentioned is not great, to saythe least.
It's highly processed, it'slacking in nutrition, any fresh
(02:56):
ingredients and it could evenpose health risks in far too
many cases.
So how does NutritionInsideight specifically address
those issues?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, it's a phenomenal question, and US
inmates are more likely to havea contractive flu-borne illness
than the general population,which just says a lot.
And the way that we address thatis through our immediate impact
, which is doing weeklydeliveries, bringing in fresh
(03:28):
fruits and vegetables and othernutritious foods with the
correctional facilities that wework with currently.
But on a larger, more broadspectrum, we really see this as
a conversation that we'restarting, trying to get our foot
in the door and say, hey, howcan we make the food better?
(03:50):
And you know, right now they'regetting it for free and so it's
kind of hard for them to passit off and not accept it, and so
when we're giving them freefood and they're incorporating
that into the meals, thatbecomes something that maybe
allows them in the future toaccept more of that fresh and
(04:11):
nutritious food.
So, yeah, really making thatrelationship between local farms
and the prisons is reallyimportant to us and then kind of
also highlighting hey, you know, a lot of these food recovery
nonprofits are only thinkingabout the 40 million people who
(04:33):
get counted as food insecure inthe US, but adults in custody,
while they do have access toconsistent food, that consistent
food is most times more harmfulthan it is healthful, and so
really highlighting that aspectof it as well.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's incredible to see how different groups are
stepping up to meet thesechallenges in such creative ways
, and it sounds like your modelbrings together food recovery
and farm partnerships and directdistribution to prisons.
Can you walk us through exactlyhow Nutrition Inside works and
why this approach has been soimpactful?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah.
So how Nutrition Inside worksis it really starts with getting
to know the kitchen managersthat we're working with, and so
we will go and, thanks to theLet Us Grow program and the
partnerships they've developed,we are able to go and meet with
(05:32):
food service managers and say,hey, what are the certain foods
that would be easiest for you toaccept right now?
And you know, sometimes they'llhave a list or they'll say, you
know, these are the things thatwe use a lot of.
You know like they get applesand oranges, for example.
And so then we think, ok, whatare some of the foods that are
(05:55):
going to be lowest maintenance,easiest to use, that they can
kind of just add on orincorporate very easily into
meals and try to go out and findthat food.
Part of this which I have reallybeen fortunate enough to have a
lot of help on, I have about 20volunteers who are all recent
(06:20):
Lewis and Clark graduates andthat's where I went, lewis and
Clark College and we have allbeen working on this idea really
since the first deliveryhappened.
And so, yeah, I really want tolike give a shout out to all the
people who have been helping mewith this, with this project
because they have been soimpactful and, you know, are the
(06:42):
reason that we're here today.
So when we do that outreachaspect, it's really making these
personal phone calls, trying toreally get to know the farmers
that we're working with, findingconnections, finding areas of
collaboration and trying tosupport farmers as much as we
can.
We want to make it as easy aspossible for them to donate
(07:04):
their surplus and, yeah, findingways to do that.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
So not only do you say, hey, we're doing this for
free, but you work directly withthe kitchens, ask them what
they need.
You basically walk in and sayhow can I help you?
What is it I can get for you?
You take their order and you goout and find partners, and then
you drop it off for free, likethere's no way to say no to a
project like that.
(07:27):
It's that's incredible, and Ilove hearing about the different
ways that people take actionlike this.
There's no one size fitsallfits-all solution, and this
is what makes this kind of foodsystem advocacy so dynamic.
Navigating food access in theprison system, though, has got
to come with its own set ofunique challenges, and I know
this through Lettuce Grow.
(07:48):
What roadblocks have youencountered, whether systemic,
logistical or financial, and howhave you worked your way
through those?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
That's a great question, and I think a lot of
people, when they first hearabout our project, are like how
are you able to work with theprison system in this way and
aren't there a lot oflimitations to it?
And there are some limitations,but thankfully, again, with our
partnership with Let Us Grow,you know they've been doing this
(08:20):
for so long and so they'rereally able to help us figure
out, you know, what we can doand what we can't do, especially
in terms of donating things toprisons, and so that's been
really helpful for us just tohave that kind of advisory board
.
And then navigating the fooddonation process itself has
(08:41):
really been simple.
We usually just have thekitchen managers actually come
out with carts into the parkinglot and just pick up the food
and they take it in themselves,and so it's really not too
difficult for them to get theirdonations inside.
And then, in terms of otherbarriers, I'd say the messaging
or I guess the outreach aspectof this project has been one of
(09:03):
the other hurdles.
Trying to find partners thatare consistent, that are able to
give us enough food to feed atleast 600 people, because that's
the smallest prison that wework with, has been pretty
challenging.
And also, you know, when youfirst tell somebody about this
project, they're probablythinking to themselves don't
(09:24):
adults in custody get fed?
Aren't our tax dollars going tothat?
And the answer is yes, butunfortunately it's around $2.30
per person a day.
That is really integral togetting people on board.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
This is so interesting because I had kind
of assumed that the hurdleswould be on the correctional
facility end and it sounds likemost of these things you're the
prisons, you don't go into thecorrectional facilities, they
(10:07):
just come out and collect itfrom you, so it kind of cuts out
all of the red tape on thatother end.
Very interesting and not what Iwas expecting to hear.
So I love that, and hearingthese challenges is so valuable
because it reminds us thatprogress with these projects is
not going to be a straight line.
It takes resilience andadaptation and you just got to
(10:27):
keep finding new ways to pushforward.
For those of you that arelistening and that want to
address food insecurity, foodwaste or maybe even advocate for
better nutrition insidecorrectional institutions in
your own areas, what are somekey lessons you've learned that
can help other food systemadvocates get started?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Awesome.
Yeah, that's a great question,and I guess my first answer to
that would just to say pleaseget started.
If you are interested in this,try something, because I just
read the report from REFED,which is this food waste
tracking organization, and theyreported about 74 million tons
(11:14):
of food was accounted for insurplus just in 2023.
And so that's about 120 billionmeals.
And so there is so much surplusbeing created in the US year
after year, and we just need tofigure out how to have people go
and find it and pick it up andtake it to people who need it.
(11:35):
And so there is room.
There is a lot of room for moreorganizations like this, and I
think that's really a stronglesson that I learned from the
FarmLink project is just startwhere you know.
Start as small as you can.
We started with 200 persimmonsand now we've moved almost 4,000
pounds of food.
It's really just about, yeah,taking that first jump in the
(11:59):
food recovery space at least.
And then, if you're reallyinterested in carceral nutrition
, I would say a first step forme would be figure out how to
get on the inside A lot ofprograms like Let Us Grow or the
Inside Out program, where theyhave these experiences where you
prison system is purposelyopaque and it tries to make it
(12:29):
so that we don't have access toit and that we other those
people, and we really shouldn'tdo that.
They are people and theydeserve not just good food but
to be treated with dignity, andso I think, yeah, if you're
leaning towards that, just tryto figure out how you can get
inside your prisons that arearound you and where you want to
(12:51):
take action most.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Amazing advice, because anyone who's listening
to this podcast already knowsthe problems are out there,
right, but the resources are outthere too, and it's just about
getting up, making a plan,taking action and just
connecting the dots for thosepeople.
At the end of this is peopleand connection, so it's just
about making those connections,and I hope this conversation
(13:16):
helps more of our listeners feelinspired to take action in
their own way at home as well.
Thank you so much for joiningus today, aiden.
We're excited to have you backto talk about future updates.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Awesome.
Thank you so much for having me.
I would love to just againshout out all my volunteers who
have helped me so much, and ifyou're looking to get involved
with Nutrition Inside, go tonutritioninsideorg and you can
contact me there.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Thank you.
Thank you and for our listenersout there.
Change starts with those smallactions, and conversations like
this remind us that we all havea role to play in shaping a more
just food system.
Whether you're growing food,organizing in your community or
maybe just starting to rethinkyour relationship with the food
that's on your plate, everysingle little step matters.
(14:06):
You can find the links and thedetails in our show notes
everything we talked about today, some information about
Nutrition Inside and our Let UsGrow program, and for more
resources, you could always justvisit our website at
growing-gardensorg.
Keep growing, keep pushing andlet's build something better
together.
Dot org.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Keep growing, keep pushing and let's build
something better together.
Thank you for tuning in to theRadical Root podcast hosted by
the 501c3 nonprofit GrowingGardens.
To learn more about our work orto donate to keep our programs
and services thriving, pleasevisit us at growing-gardensorg.
While you're there, don'tforget to download your free
(14:48):
copy of the Radical GardeningResource Guide your step-by-step
action path to a greener futurefor us all.
Welcome to the Radical Root podcast hosted by
the 501c3 nonprofit GrowingGardens your go-to resource for
all things radical gardening andfood system advocacy.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to the Radical Root, where we share
inspiring interviews with foodsystem leaders who are making a
difference in food justice andfood sovereignty.
Today, I'm sitting down withAiden O'Connor from Nutrition
Inside to talk about their workproviding fresh, nutritious food
for incarcerated individuals,while supporting local farms and
reducing food waste.
(00:38):
Aiden, I'm so glad to have youhere.
Thanks for taking the time tochat.
Let's just start with thebasics.
Tell us about yourself, yourbackground and how you got
involved with this work.
What led you to createNutrition Inside?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, awesome.
Thanks so much for having meBea.
This is an awesome podcast.
I have listened to a fewepisodes in the past, so I'm
super excited to be on.
And yeah, Nutrition Insidereally started from the FarmLink
project, which was a nonprofitthat I worked with last year,
(01:14):
and they have a nationwideapproach of recovering surplus
food and as part of that, I waspart of the fellowship called
(01:42):
the Field Fellowship, and onephase of that fellowship is an
immersion where I got to do myimmersion with Growing Gardens
and I did talking about the food, learning about the food and
trying to really understand whatthe mental implications of the
food were and what the physicalimplications of the food were.
And so I did a survey afterhaving a few conversations and
really learning how bad the foodwas.
(02:04):
It's much worse than you think,unfortunately, and through that
survey realized you knowthere's a real problem here and
food has really become a form ofpunishment.
In correctional facilities,Punishment is deliberate in most
cases, but here it really comesdown to them trying to keep
costs as low as possible, and soI reached out to one of the
(02:29):
food service managers at CRCIand that's kind of how it all
started.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
That's so amazing.
I know through our work withLettuce Grow that this work is
so important and I'm alwaysinspired to hear the backstories
and the different ways thatpeople are going about tackling
these food justice issues.
We know that food andcorrectional facilities, as you
mentioned is not great, to saythe least.
It's highly processed, it'slacking in nutrition, any fresh
(02:56):
ingredients and it could evenpose health risks in far too
many cases.
So how does NutritionInsideight specifically address
those issues?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, it's a phenomenal question, and US
inmates are more likely to havea contractive flu-borne illness
than the general population,which just says a lot.
And the way that we address thatis through our immediate impact
, which is doing weeklydeliveries, bringing in fresh
(03:28):
fruits and vegetables and othernutritious foods with the
correctional facilities that wework with currently.
But on a larger, more broadspectrum, we really see this as
a conversation that we'restarting, trying to get our foot
in the door and say, hey, howcan we make the food better?
(03:50):
And you know, right now they'regetting it for free and so it's
kind of hard for them to passit off and not accept it, and so
when we're giving them freefood and they're incorporating
that into the meals, thatbecomes something that maybe
allows them in the future toaccept more of that fresh and
(04:11):
nutritious food.
So, yeah, really making thatrelationship between local farms
and the prisons is reallyimportant to us and then kind of
also highlighting hey, you know, a lot of these food recovery
nonprofits are only thinkingabout the 40 million people who
(04:33):
get counted as food insecure inthe US, but adults in custody,
while they do have access toconsistent food, that consistent
food is most times more harmfulthan it is healthful, and so
really highlighting that aspectof it as well.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
It's incredible to see how different groups are
stepping up to meet thesechallenges in such creative ways
, and it sounds like your modelbrings together food recovery
and farm partnerships and directdistribution to prisons.
Can you walk us through exactlyhow Nutrition Inside works and
why this approach has been soimpactful?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah.
So how Nutrition Inside worksis it really starts with getting
to know the kitchen managersthat we're working with, and so
we will go and, thanks to theLet Us Grow program and the
partnerships they've developed,we are able to go and meet with
(05:32):
food service managers and say,hey, what are the certain foods
that would be easiest for you toaccept right now?
And you know, sometimes they'llhave a list or they'll say, you
know, these are the things thatwe use a lot of.
You know like they get applesand oranges, for example.
And so then we think, ok, whatare some of the foods that are
(05:55):
going to be lowest maintenance,easiest to use, that they can
kind of just add on orincorporate very easily into
meals and try to go out and findthat food.
Part of this which I have reallybeen fortunate enough to have a
lot of help on, I have about 20volunteers who are all recent
(06:20):
Lewis and Clark graduates andthat's where I went, lewis and
Clark College and we have allbeen working on this idea really
since the first deliveryhappened.
And so, yeah, I really want tolike give a shout out to all the
people who have been helping mewith this, with this project
because they have been soimpactful and, you know, are the
(06:42):
reason that we're here today.
So when we do that outreachaspect, it's really making these
personal phone calls, trying toreally get to know the farmers
that we're working with, findingconnections, finding areas of
collaboration and trying tosupport farmers as much as we
can.
We want to make it as easy aspossible for them to donate
(07:04):
their surplus and, yeah, findingways to do that.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
So not only do you say, hey, we're doing this for
free, but you work directly withthe kitchens, ask them what
they need.
You basically walk in and sayhow can I help you?
What is it I can get for you?
You take their order and you goout and find partners, and then
you drop it off for free, likethere's no way to say no to a
project like that.
(07:27):
It's that's incredible, and Ilove hearing about the different
ways that people take actionlike this.
There's no one size fitsallfits-all solution, and this
is what makes this kind of foodsystem advocacy so dynamic.
Navigating food access in theprison system, though, has got
to come with its own set ofunique challenges, and I know
this through Lettuce Grow.
(07:48):
What roadblocks have youencountered, whether systemic,
logistical or financial, and howhave you worked your way
through those?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
That's a great question, and I think a lot of
people, when they first hearabout our project, are like how
are you able to work with theprison system in this way and
aren't there a lot oflimitations to it?
And there are some limitations,but thankfully, again, with our
partnership with Let Us Grow,you know they've been doing this
(08:20):
for so long and so they'rereally able to help us figure
out, you know, what we can doand what we can't do, especially
in terms of donating things toprisons, and so that's been
really helpful for us just tohave that kind of advisory board
.
And then navigating the fooddonation process itself has
(08:41):
really been simple.
We usually just have thekitchen managers actually come
out with carts into the parkinglot and just pick up the food
and they take it in themselves,and so it's really not too
difficult for them to get theirdonations inside.
And then, in terms of otherbarriers, I'd say the messaging
or I guess the outreach aspectof this project has been one of
(09:03):
the other hurdles.
Trying to find partners thatare consistent, that are able to
give us enough food to feed atleast 600 people, because that's
the smallest prison that wework with, has been pretty
challenging.
And also, you know, when youfirst tell somebody about this
project, they're probablythinking to themselves don't
(09:24):
adults in custody get fed?
Aren't our tax dollars going tothat?
And the answer is yes, butunfortunately it's around $2.30
per person a day.
That is really integral togetting people on board.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
This is so interesting because I had kind
of assumed that the hurdleswould be on the correctional
facility end and it sounds likemost of these things you're the
prisons, you don't go into thecorrectional facilities, they
(10:07):
just come out and collect itfrom you, so it kind of cuts out
all of the red tape on thatother end.
Very interesting and not what Iwas expecting to hear.
So I love that, and hearingthese challenges is so valuable
because it reminds us thatprogress with these projects is
not going to be a straight line.
It takes resilience andadaptation and you just got to
(10:27):
keep finding new ways to pushforward.
For those of you that arelistening and that want to
address food insecurity, foodwaste or maybe even advocate for
better nutrition insidecorrectional institutions in
your own areas, what are somekey lessons you've learned that
can help other food systemadvocates get started?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Awesome.
Yeah, that's a great question,and I guess my first answer to
that would just to say pleaseget started.
If you are interested in this,try something, because I just
read the report from REFED,which is this food waste
tracking organization, and theyreported about 74 million tons
(11:14):
of food was accounted for insurplus just in 2023.
And so that's about 120 billionmeals.
And so there is so much surplusbeing created in the US year
after year, and we just need tofigure out how to have people go
and find it and pick it up andtake it to people who need it.
(11:35):
And so there is room.
There is a lot of room for moreorganizations like this, and I
think that's really a stronglesson that I learned from the
FarmLink project is just startwhere you know.
Start as small as you can.
We started with 200 persimmonsand now we've moved almost 4,000
pounds of food.
It's really just about, yeah,taking that first jump in the
(11:59):
food recovery space at least.
And then, if you're reallyinterested in carceral nutrition
, I would say a first step forme would be figure out how to
get on the inside A lot ofprograms like Let Us Grow or the
Inside Out program, where theyhave these experiences where you
prison system is purposelyopaque and it tries to make it
(12:29):
so that we don't have access toit and that we other those
people, and we really shouldn'tdo that.
They are people and theydeserve not just good food but
to be treated with dignity, andso I think, yeah, if you're
leaning towards that, just tryto figure out how you can get
inside your prisons that arearound you and where you want to
(12:51):
take action most.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Amazing advice, because anyone who's listening
to this podcast already knowsthe problems are out there,
right, but the resources are outthere too, and it's just about
getting up, making a plan,taking action and just
connecting the dots for thosepeople.
At the end of this is peopleand connection, so it's just
about making those connections,and I hope this conversation
(13:16):
helps more of our listeners feelinspired to take action in
their own way at home as well.
Thank you so much for joiningus today, aiden.
We're excited to have you backto talk about future updates.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Awesome.
Thank you so much for having me.
I would love to just againshout out all my volunteers who
have helped me so much, and ifyou're looking to get involved
with Nutrition Inside, go tonutritioninsideorg and you can
contact me there.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Thank you.
Thank you and for our listenersout there.
Change starts with those smallactions, and conversations like
this remind us that we all havea role to play in shaping a more
just food system.
Whether you're growing food,organizing in your community or
maybe just starting to rethinkyour relationship with the food
that's on your plate, everysingle little step matters.
(14:06):
You can find the links and thedetails in our show notes
everything we talked about today, some information about
Nutrition Inside and our Let UsGrow program, and for more
resources, you could always justvisit our website at
growing-gardensorg.
Keep growing, keep pushing andlet's build something better
together.
Dot org.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Keep growing, keep pushing and let's build
something better together.
Thank you for tuning in to theRadical Root podcast hosted by
the 501c3 nonprofit GrowingGardens.
To learn more about our work orto donate to keep our programs
and services thriving, pleasevisit us at growing-gardensorg.
While you're there, don'tforget to download your free
(14:48):
copy of the Radical GardeningResource Guide your step-by-step
action path to a greener futurefor us all.
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