South Carolina to Open First U.S. Prison-Based Vertical Farm
March 26, 2026 
Photo: Bowery Farming
The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), in partnership with Impact Justice and AmplifiedAg, will launch the nation’s first vertical farm inside a prison, located within the Camille Graham women’s facility in Columbia, S.C. This move will follow in the footsteps of other countries around the world, including Portugal and the U.K., which have integrated vertical farms inside prisons for workforce development and to create a local supply of fresh produce for inmates.
“This vertical farm — part of Impact Justice’s ‘Growing Justice’ program — reimagines controlled-environment agriculture as both a workforce development engine and a sustainable solution to the chronic lack of fresh produce in prisons, and is poised to significantly improve nutrition and expand meaningful employment opportunities for incarcerated women,” the SCDC said in a released statement.
“It starts the healing process for everyone that’s involved,” said SCDC Director Joel Anderson to South Carolina Public Radio. “Growing vegetables in a controlled environment is not new, but growing it in this environment is new for us.”
The joint-effort project has been four years in the making, with additional help from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA) to ensure its strong roots.
