With over ten years of dedicated service, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Organic Farm Program has been an innovative way to inspire incarcerated individuals and serve the community.

At its core, the program is all about giving back—thousands of pounds of fresh, organic produce have been distributed to more than 50 community organizations including senior centers, veteran groups, and food pantries.

“The Sheriff’s Office’s Organic Farm is a tremendously positive program,” said Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis. “The farm allows our office to give back to the communities we work to keep safe every day.”

The 15-acre farm in West Boylston produces roughly 500 pounds of fresh produce daily and approximately 40,000 pounds in a growing season. This program continues to expand, now growing fruit such as cantaloupe. As autumn approaches, the farm is also gearing up to offer pumpkins to the community, with an estimated one to two dump truckloads of pumpkins expected.

This generous outreach extends not only to external organizations but also to the inmate population within the correctional facility. Thousands of pounds of produce have been processed and prepared by the Sheriff’s Office’s kitchen, helping to feed the inmate population.

“I’ve been told repeatedly by recipients that these fresh organic vegetables are like nature’s medicine,” said Sheriff Evangelidis. “In addition to community distributions, we’re fortunate enough to use some of the produce we harvest in our kitchens inside the jail. This allows our culinary team to prepare healthy meals for the inmate populations while also saving our organization and taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in food costs.”

A fundamental aspect of the organic farm program is the active involvement of the incarcerated individuals. Over the past decade, low-risk offenders residing in the jail’s work release building have been given the opportunity to participate.

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