Vegan Diet Impacts Recidivism

Vegan Diet Impacts Recidivism

Most cynics would say, “Prisoners don’t deserve good food. They committed a crime; just keep feeding them slop because we don’t want our tax dollars going to feed those criminals!”

Unless one is familiar with a prison 120 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, one would agree prisoners don’t deserve nutritional food, which is a waste of money.

Terry Mooreland, CEO of Maranatha Private Corrections LLC, proved this speculation wrong when he bid on a 500-inmate private prison in San Bernardino, Calif.

In 1997, when Mooreland won the bid, private prisons were a flourishing prospect, especially in San Bernardino County, where crime rates and returning inmates were high.

When Mooreland bid on Victor Valley Medium Community Correctional Facility in Adelanto, California, it was under the condition that the inmates would go vegan if his offer were accepted.

When Mooreland took over the facility, California had a recidivism rate of 95%. During the seven years Mooreland had the inmates at Victor Valley on a vegetarian diet, the recidivism rate at the prison went down to under 2%.

During the time Mooreland directed the prison, the new inmates could choose if they wanted to participate in the New Start program that consisted of a vegan diet, bible studies, occupational training, and anger management.

The inmates who opted for the traditional California Department of Corrections routine continued to be fed the standard high carbohydrate starchy menu and did not have the option to participate in rehabilitative programs.

Julianne Aranda, the Victor Valley nutrition services coordinator, and her staff maintained the philosophy that what the inmates put in their mouths affects their mental attitude and how they deal with conflict. Eating a diet of starches boggles the mind and doesn’t contribute to being cleared out to make positive changes when they are released into the real world.

Despite California’s pessimistic prediction that the 500 inmates residing at Victor Valley would probably “burn the place down before they became vegetarians,” a whopping 85% of the inmates agreed to room on the “vegan” side of the complex.

The outcome was incredible. The environment on the New Start side of the complex, compared to the 15% that stayed with the California Department of Corrections’ original protocol, was like night and day. The New Start side was exempt from fights and racial territory. The CDC side of the house remained the same. Racial tension and gang terrain were unchanged, and so was the food, the same old sloppy grub.

The inmates on the New Start side of the fence made better decisions because their minds were clear, and their behavior changed dramatically.

Sadly, the program ended when Mooreland’s contract was canceled because of a trivial phone revenue conflict with the State of California.

What skeptics don’t understand is that if all state prisons adopted the New Start concepts, tax-payers would save money because the recidivism rate would be lowered.

Also, O.J. wouldn’t have gained so much weight.

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