USA - South Carolina: SCDC To Launch Nation’s First Vertical Farm Inside a U.S. Prison
March 18, 2026
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), in partnership with Impact Justice and AmplifiedAg, is set to launch the first vertical farm inside a U.S. prison at the Camille Graham women’s facility in Columbia.
Vertical farming is the practice of growing crops in vertically and horizontally stacked layers to increase crop yield in limited space.
Other countries, including Portugal and the United Kingdom, have integrated vertical farms in some of their own prisons.
Chase Flowers has farmed for more than a decade. Around 6 months ago he decided to take his growing inside and do vertical hydroponic farming.(WSFA)
“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," SDCDC said in a release.
The department is holding a media conference to launch the farm on Thursday at 11 a.m.