KarunaNews Story

A state prison in Ohio hosted the state’s first five-course meal served to the public with food prepared by incarcerated men from fruits and vegetables grown in the prison garden. Almost 60 people dined at Grafton Correctional Institution, where incarcerated men in the prison’s EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute hosted the event. EDWINS, an organization dedicated to education in prisons, hosted the dinner as part of its culinary course, offered in 652 prisons and jails around the country. The six-month course provides training to incarcerated people, including the skills and certifications needed to work in a fine dining establishment. The program was born out of the belief that “every human being, regardless of their past, has the right to a fair and equal future,” Chef Brandon Chrostowski said. Prison Warden Jerry Spatny described the program as providing the participants with “reentry level skills so that when they go home, they can be successful in that environment.”