“Horticultura Vertical, Solidariedade Horizontal” - Cultivating Transformation at the Torres Nova prison

“Horticultura Vertical, Solidariedade Horizontal” - Cultivating Transformation at the Torres Nova prison

June 1, 2023

Wednesday, I had the privilege of attending the inauguration by Portugal's Minister of Justice, Catarina Sarmento e Castro, of an extraordinary project implemented within the walls of the Torres Novas prison.

Developed by upfarming, an urban agriculture start-up co-founded by my wife Margarida Villas-Boas, the "Horticultura Vertical, Solidariedade Horizontal" initiative brought together prison guards and inmates to build an impressive vertical farm consisting of forty agricultural towers.

This innovative project, funded by the Fundação La Caixa BPI Solidário 2022 prize and a group of private donors, aims to address social exclusion and poverty by providing inmates with invaluable life skills that will help their social reinsertion by improving the nutritional quality of meals served in prison, and by supporting neighbouring underprivileged communities.

The project uses an innovative vertical aeroponic cultivation system that nourishes the plants with a water and natural nutrient solution, saving up to 95% of water and 90% of space compared to conventional agricultural methods. With up to 52 plants per unit, each tower produces 4 to 8 kilograms of vegetables per month.

Fourty-two inmates and correctional officers now grow together a broad range of vegetables and herbs, including lettuce, spinach, tomato, parsley, coriander, and basil. The harvested produce is used in the prison's kitchen to introduce fresher, locally sourced ingredients in the inmates' diets, with the balance distributed to over a hundred vulnerable families in the region.

This horticultural endeavour did not just transform the prison landscape; it also fostered a genuine sense of teamwork and care between inmates and guards and is creating a long-lasting impact on its surrounding community.

This project was made possible through the collaboration of multiple entities, including Direcção Geral de Reinserção e Serviços Prisionais, Centro Protocolar de Justiça, Câmara Municipal de Torres Novas, Fundación ”la Caixa”, Start-up Torres Novas, Centro de Reabilitação e Integração Torrejano (CRIT), Cruz Vermelha Torres Novas, and Marta Caras Lindas Revolution.

Francisco Roque de Pinho - The Land Group

More information: Jornal de Abrantes, Jornal de Noticias, Noticias ao Minuto, O Publico (paywall)