Mission
The main objective is to create a business that employs ex-offenders as part of a rehabilitation programme. The idea is to marry probation to business. This will broadly be accomplished by selling vegetables currently rejected by super markets because of their shape and size. The reason for instigating this programme is to address the cycle of release and re-offence, generally referred to as ‘revolving door policy’. The project/business would be structured to provide potential employees/candidates with the means to earn a living, whilst taking part in an educational programme. The creation of this organisation should significantly reduce the chances of re-offending.
The businesses will require a variety of skill levels to provide a business experience tailored to ability and potential. This will run in conjunction with a mentoring system to motivate the employees, working alongside civilian staff. This idea will be different from previous schemes, in that it will use the knowledge of existing schemes as a foundation to build a realistic transition back into the work place. This initiative will be implemented by key people with of core values that will reflect the main objective. This will be underpinned by creating a culture of encouragement based on the trust, honesty and integrity that will be expected of the employees. This element, of making the employees accountable for their own progress, will appeal to the wider community disillusioned with the success rates of previous programmes. The marriage of business and probation is a new approach to overcome scant funding. The initial start up fund will be provided in a way that will involve the public, and therefore make them more receptive to the concept. This unique difference will offer employees a real chance to re-enter the workplace on equal terms. The proposed business would be used as a stepping stone to alternative careers for the employees. Some might choose to remain within the organisation or, having succeeded in gaining certain qualifications, leave to pursue further employment opportunities elsewhere.
In the long term a family of businesses will be created to reflect the needs of the employees and the state of the market. In realistic terms, a starting point would need to be conceived to evaluate the model. I believe this will be achieved by using the untapped resource of wonky veg. If this proves successful, the idea could subsequently to applied to other business models.
As an initial phase to explore the concept, the type of business would utilise an existing, but unused resource. This resource is designed to appeal to the wider public, because of its environmental and economic credentials. At present it is recognised that our vegetable producers destroy over 40% of their stock. That figure, although an approximation, is generally regarded as reliable. It is also understood/agreed that there is nothing wrong with the produce, other than not conforming with the criteria demanded by the super markets, with reference to size and shape. There are any number of groups dedicated to raising public awareness of this waste, with a view to changing our buying habits. This will also be an opportunity to make that happen. I believe the buying public would purchase these rejected vegetables, if they were made available for sale, and if this particular idea was supported accordingly.
The proposal is to use that produce to create a network of businesses staffed by a proportion of ex-offenders and key personnel within the framework of the organisation.
Although the idea is a reasonably simple one, there are many steps that need to be considered before the first phase is instigated. Certainly the most important one will be to convince the necessary people that such a scheme is viable. This alone will be challenging, mostly because there is nothing to compare it to. On the plus side, a unique method of funding will make the scheme attractive, in that it will aim to generate it’s own working capital. The task, though ambitious, is not insurmountable if key people with the necessary drive, vision, intelligence and talent step forward to make such a proposition become a reality. There are a network of aspects that will need to be addressed to reduce the complexity of this particular idea, but if reduced to their component parts, the individual obstacles will be overcome to accomplish the key objective.
Matters involving the logistics of actually starting the ball rolling: convincing the govt of its viability, persuading suppliers/farmers and the public to embrace the scheme, establishing reliable suppliers, organising warehousing, transport, administration and funding. These are issues that a core administration will have to confront. The more cynical of you will probably suggest that the supermarkets could kill this particular idea by selling wonky veg themselves. The challenge is to build the business to a degree whereby that risk is reduced. It will be necessary to steal a chase on them by getting this project to a point whereby the project holds exclusive rights to selling wonky veg. If such a conflict was to arise, the business will need to be at the point, whereby it will hold and maintain the loyalty of customers who believe in the ethos behind the scheme.
Once a polished overview has been presented and approved, the real work of coordinating all these elements needs to start. I believe that for this project to succeed it will fly or die depending upon how the public respond to it, therefore it will need to be unfolded in full view of the potential market. Social media will be used to stimulate an interest, thereby making the idea appeal to as wider audience as possible. Certain key public figures will be called upon to add to public endorsement, along with other methods of promotion.
Another idea to help launch the project would be a reality based television programme. By documenting the idea from its inception , through the various stages of development, the public would be more receptive to the aims and objectives of the project. In this instance the public would also have an opportunity to look inside the prison service, meet prospective employees and learn something about their lives. This back drop would also help establish the core principles that will drive the business.
None of this will be possible until the key issues have been addressed, before the first vegetable is sold. The main motivation to make this idea work is what it could achieve, and the people it could help when it succeeds. Turning lives around is the main objective. The level of skill required is intentionally designed to give candidates a realistic opportunity to build new lives within this framework, whereby vegetables that would otherwise be sent to landfill could be sold for a profit to allow such a venture to grow.
This document has been tabled as a white paper to discuss the idea and share it with as many like minded people as possible. I am initially hoping to recruit the kind of people who share a vision of what such a proposal could achive, supporters/volunteers from all walks of life to provide the kind of expertise necessary to make this idea become a reality, thereby building a platform to generate the kind of interest/publicity/support to help this venture succeed.
At this stage this is merely an idea that will require the input of many like minded people. By sharing this idea with as many people as possible, others might be able to contribute to the aims and objectives. Although the aims of this project are fairly simple and straight forward, it would be somewhat naive to assume that there will be a fairly high degree of scepticism from certain sections who might not appreciate how this will be accomplished. Therefore I will be proposing a fairly unorthodox method to generate the funding required to create the core administration of this organisation. This will not be dependent upon the already scarce resources that might have once existed for such schemes. I propose to use the proceeds of a personal business venture with which to fund the initial phase. I believe that by not asking for state assistance, this will be better received. In effect the resources will be funded by the sale of a product that should appeal to the wider public. The benefits of using this method of funding are manifold: No demands on public funds and greater autonomy. Although I concede that this method of conducting business might be viewed as unconventional, the benefits of such independence will be mean that there will be none of the usual obstacles/ constraints normally associated with such ideas. This aspect, if presented accordingly, will capture the public’s imagination.
I hope that by sharing this idea with as many people as possible, it will serve a number of purposes. Copyright will be established, (although I have taken the precaution of lodging the concept with the necessary bodies to prevent certain inappropriate people ruining this particular idea.) The other reason is to create a brand conceived in full view of the public, who will ultimately be the difference between the success or failure of such a venture. By laying down the necessary groundwork, this will become a national conversation in terms of publicity, so that when the first pilot schemes are instigated, they will have a fair chance of succeeding. To accomplish this I will need the help of as many people, public, private or otherwise, to make this idea jump from the page to the high street.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
REHABILITATING PRISON LIFE
by Philip Dundas, Wednesday 17th June 2015
As a little boy, I was constantly in trouble. Nothing serious by most standards – the petty misdemeanours of a miscreant lad growing up on a farm – but pretty much everything I did offended the arcane piety of my adopted parents. So I tended to lie a lot. I figured that as I was always being punished, I might as well try to get away with it when cross-examined.
These interrogations were usually followed by lengthy homilies on the importance of honesty, delivered by my father from his breakfast table. In later life he told me how it infuriated him that after these reprimands, I would depart shamefaced, promising to change my ways, only to be seen minutes later skipping past the kitchen window, whistling cheerfully like Toad of Toad Hall, not sorry at all and on my way to yet another rascally adventure.
But one morning, he announced stony-faced, that he had made the decision to send me away. He explained that he knew a man who ran a borstal and that they had agreed I would be locked up until I mended my behaviour. I was sent to my room to await the arrival of a van being sent to collect me.
The whole day I was terrified and wept uncontrollably, my ten year old imagination running wild on what little I knew about prison life. Every car coming down our quiet farm lane filled me with abject fear. At tea time, I asked to see my father and putting my arms around him, the only time in my life, I begged for forgiveness.
I’m reminded of this because during these last few weeks I’ve been working in a prison with young offenders and I begin to understand why the traditional ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ approach to justice does not work. And why it is always worth working individually with people who have had made mistakes. Most of these guys have had few life chances or been able to seen beyond the challenges of their experiences. To help them think differently and tackle life in new ways is the best we can offer. If the punishment is their loss of liberty, their rehabilitation should begin the day those gates bang shut behind them.
Three weeks ago, I walked through the gates of Hydebank Wood and started working with 10 young men. Starting from scratch with no previous experience, we set up, launched and ran a staff cafe for 2 weeks to such success that they are now keeping it open permanently. We never discussed their crimes, some more serious than others, but they included a more or less predictable range of violence, drugs and delinquency. I judged them purely on their work with me. Every one of them was punctual, hard-working, resourceful, enthusiastic and respectful. From learning to cook, making coffee, serving tables, cleaning floors they applied themselves without complaint or dissent. They knew the biggest obstacle to our project was persuading staff to eat in a place run by inmates. And they tackled that with pride, good-humour and maturity.
People react to how they are treated and in this case to how they are fed. Nourishing food is so often absent from the places it is most needed: hospitals, schools, prisons, care homes. I don’t accept that we can’t afford to do so. People get better, learn better, behave better and feel better when they are properly fed. Good food isn’t more expensive, bad cooking is.
Food is all about nurture and the basis of the Cabin Cafe project has been that by taking a new approach to food and cooking in all its aspects, you can change the dynamic of a prison. In an establishment where everyone is under huge stress, you can actually put a price on the increased physical well-being and flourishing of emotional intelligence that comes from the experience of growing stuff you can eat, cooking decent food, feeding people, eating well and sharing that experience. If the ten young men coming through my project don’t reoffend after serving their time and the teams looking after them are happy in their jobs, those savings to society can be measured in hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Decent food has a transformative power; to change how you feel, how you behave and how you think. I’ve seen many times first-hand what happens when people experience that in restaurants, and now in a prison. It’s not been an easy journey but I’m more convinced than ever that food can have crucial role in the rehabilitation of offenders.
Maybe without knowing it, my Dad brought me here.
COOKING BEHIND BARS
For a nation that thinks so highly of itself, our relationship with food is lamentable. While we enthusiasts are enveloped in clouds of gin mist, supping fermented grouse foam and foraging for our bowl of morning grains, most of the nation is suffering from a deeply dysfunctional experience of eating and cooking. I’ve been working with the prison service […]
MORE COMING IN FROM THE WILD
We should beware of creating demand that results in unscrupulous lines of supply; herds of foodies spilling into finely balanced habitats, greedily gorging on rediscovered delicacies, or getting others to kill wild game to satisfy their curious palates.
