Imagine working in a facility where you're locked in and supervising people who are living under those same conditions 24 hours a day.
Now imagine being given an opportunity to work at the same facility with the same people but in a position where you can produce something that matters while supervising a growing system that allows fresh vegetables to be grown year-round.
If you're Jason Turner, a sergeant in the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office, you jump at that chance.
Turner, who has been a corrections officer for 20 years, is the head of security at the Berkshire County Jail and House of Correction's Aquaponics Lab, which is located in a greenhouse on the jail grounds. Inside, lettuce is grown in nutrient-rich water. The nutrients are created by fish that are stationed in tanks located near the floating grow beds.
Turner works side-by-side with the lab's project manager, Mario Anastasio, who is a civilian employee, and inmates who are assigned to work there.