A New Way to Spend Time in Jail

I saw this neat article on CNN.com today:http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/12/prison.farmers/index.html?hpt=C2 discussing a partnership between the Florida department of corrections and the University of Florida's agricultural program. Essentially, the program at UF was experiencing budget cuts that prevented them from being able to manage their fields, so now non-violent offenders are working in the research farms five days a week to help out. Not only does it help deal with financial issues on the university's end, but the prisoners are getting to eat the food they grow, defraying the cost of their food for the state. I'm sure it's nice that they are getting more fresh food, that's locally grown, but they're also learning valuable skills. (actually the article noted some of the prisoners are already quite experienced farmers--growing crops of an illegal variety). Still, we've talked about the growing problem of US farmers that are aging, and that lack of knowledge being passed on, but what if a lot of these inmates were to fill that gap when they're released? This seems like such a good idea for correctional facilities all over the country, with the work ethic and skills that are being developed clearly having the potential to give back more to society that the ability to make license plates!