Catherine Sneed is an author who started a program in prisons in 1984 to get prisoners involved with farming and working with the land. She believes this gives prisoners hope and something productive to work towards to help prevent reoffending. The essay discusses the high incarceration rates in the US and how Sneed's program aims to help prisoners feel proud of contributing and find meaning beyond crime. It also explores the positive impacts seen from the program and questions around expanding it more widely.

1. These Green Things
By Catherine Sneed

2. About the Author
 Born in Germany in 1954, and
immigrated to America with her family,
often did not have enough money to
survive
 Given “The Grapes of Wrath” as a book while she was in
the hospital, inspired her to help people become more in
touch with the land.
 Started her work in prisons around 1984, after a
miraculous recovery from a rare and serious kidney
disease.
 Written a few other essays about the same topic, gives
speeches around the United States.

3. Context
• The United States has the
worlds highest prison
population of just under 1%
of the population. Followed
by Russia and Rwanda
 Over three percent of Americans are under correctional
supervision.
 Essay focuses on how we can get prisoners involved
with the earth, and give them hope for their future.
 Most prisoners are re-indicted after their first prison
sentence, Sneed wants to give them something to be
proud of, and help them find a passion that will give
them something to do other than crime.

4. Quotes
 “What we have in this country is poor people and
vacant land”
 “It‟s very, very important that you give people who
have hurt people, who have killed people, an
opportunity to be able to look in the mirror and say,
„God, I can do something good‟”
 “He talks about how, in America, anything done with
your hands is looked down on.”
 “This program makes people who have no hope have
hope, which is a tremendously powerful thing.”

5. Quotes (cont.)
 “You know, California spends many millions of
dollars building jails, and fewer millions of dollars
education children.”
 “It starts with us saying, „We can do better,‟
because we can do better.”

6. Speaking Strategies
 She seems to be telling the story with a hopeful tone.
 Most of the stories that she tells start with a
struggled background of the subject then shows their
transformation. Ex. Rumaldo
 Stories follow stereotypical plot line. Intro, rising
action with struggles, climax, falling
action, resolution. Ex. Strawberry patches behind
bakery.

7. Questions
 Do you think this system should be implemented into
prisons across the whole country?
 Do you think Sneed is right in thinking that people just
need something to be proud of to feel important and stay
out of trouble?
 Do you think that there are other alternatives to
gardening that would work?
 Do you think that there is a problem with the jail system
in America? Overcrowding or ineffective?
 What could be possible downsides to opening these
garden/farms across the country?