News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith and Undersheriff Cash Kroll show where a garden could be implemented behind the jail.

ALPENA — Alpena County Sheriff Erik Smith is making plans to start a garden, and people incarcerated in the Alpena County Jail will be its caretakers.

The one roadblock in his path is funding. With federal cuts looming, Smith is not sure where the funds will come from, although he would like to start the project this spring.

“This is actually something we went to the Board of Commissioners last year for funding because we need a fence,” Smith said. “The way that the county was doing their budget last year, it just was not feasible.”

The highest expense for the project will come from the fence that will enclose the garden. Smith said he thinks the project will cost around $40,000 for the fence alone.

Smith is planning to apply for grants wherever he can, whether it’s federal, state, or local grants, to raise funds for the garden. He is also looking at partnering with Alpena County’s Michigan State University Extension.

People incarcerated at the jail as well as people who are non-sentenced or ordered to serve community service hours can help maintain the garden, Smith said.

He said the garden does two things: It gets people outside and it gets them doing things with their hands versus being locked up and idle.

“But it also goes into a deeper mindset of we are doing all these education programs, let’s give them a life skill so when they get out, they can grow and maintain their own sustainable food source,” Smith said.

He said when somebody is incarcerated and they actually do something worthwhile, and they see the result of that action, it can make them feel a little bit better. He’s seen it with the Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education, or IGNITE, program that they implemented at the jail in January. That program has given inmates something to be proud of, and Smith wants to further that by starting a garden.

Smith has a couple of ideas for what to do with the food grown in the garden. Fruits and vegetables could be added to inmates’ meals, for instance. Additionally, he would like to give food to local food banks and create a roadside stand to sell or give away fruits and vegetables outside the sheriff’s office.

“There’s hunger in Northeast Michigan, we could help with that,” Smith said. “I just want to get this out to the public that this is something we’re looking at doing and we may have to get some partnerships in the community to make that happen, and I think it’s a great idea.”

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.